ABSTRACT: An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants was conducted betweenrnOctober 2009 and April 2010, in Ofla Wereda of Southern Tigray, Ethiopia. The studyrnemployed common ethnobotanical methods including semi-structured interviews, fieldrnobservations, preference ranking, paired comparisons and informant consensus. A totalrnof 84 informants from 12 Kebeles (7 informants from each Kebele) were selectedrnrandomly and 36 key informants with the help of local administrators, recommendationsrnfrom elders and members of the local community. In this study, 113 traditionalrnmedicinal plants were collected and identified. These species represent 95 genera andrn51 families. The family Asteraceae with 12 species (10.62%), Lamiaceae andrnSolanaceae with 11 species (9.73%) each were commonly used medicinal plants in thernstudy area. From the total of 113 medicinal plants, 82 species (72.57%) were used torntreat human ailments for 55 health problems, 16 species (14.16%) were used to 14rnlivestock health problems and the remaining 15 species (13.27%) were used to treatrnboth humans and livestock diseases. Herbs are the most used plants, accounting for 52rnspecies (46%), shrubs 34 species (30.1%) and trees 27 species (23.9%). Leaves, roots,rnand fruits are the most used plant parts accounting for 68 species (45.3%), 31 speciesrn(20.7%) and 18 species (12%) in that order. Fresh plant parts from 74 species (65.5%)rnare frequently used in the study area than dried plant materials (27 species, 23.9%) andrnboth dry and fresh materials (12 species, 10.6%). From the collected traditionalrnmedicinal plants informants reported that species used as crushed preparations were 39rn(26.2%) followed by pounded which were 34 (22.8%) and those used as fumigants werern20 (13.4%). Most herbal preparations are administered externally compared to internalrnapplications accounting for 51.6% and 48.4% respectively.rnKeywords: Ethnobotany, Ofla, medicinal plants, traditional medicine