The "caiçara' community of Praia do Sono retains some of the habits and traditions from ancient generations. This may be due to the difficulties of accessibility to that area. This paper aims to investigate the knowledge about the medicinal plants in this community. Twelve specialist informants were selected and interviewed (six men and six women). Eighty-nine species were cited, belonging to 43 botanical families. Lamiaceae and Asteraceae are the most representative ones. Therapeutic indications were decoded and grouped in 13 categories of diseases. Th is classification follows the ICD 10 adopted by WHO. Information regarding the plant tissue used, their uses and the collection sites were indicated. Ten species showed great versatility of uses, with IR>1. Of the 13 species that have CUPc values over 50%, Cecropia pachystachya Trec.; Davilla rugosa Poiret and Trema micrantha (L.) Blume are native to the Atlantic Forest. Th ese results can be used as a motivation for further studies in the area and also can provide the basis for future studies on chemical constituents and pharmacological proprieties of the plants cited.
ethnobotany; coastal communities; quantitative approach
