The high price of allopathic medicines, combined with the low quality of the public health system, makes low-income populations increasingly seek medicinal plants as an alternative to industrialized products. However, it must be taken into consideration that the use of plants in an Amazonian community is not only financial but also cultural. Based on this assumption, a study was carried out to document the knowledge about plants for therapeutic use held by inhabitants of the municipality of Santa Bárbara do Pará - in the communities of Livramento and São Paulo das Pedrinhas, demonstrating the important role they play locally. The field work was carried out from October to December 2003 and January to May 2004, where the information was obtained through semi-structured interviews, applied to 22 previously selected local residents, aged between 27 and 93 years. The final results revealed 39 species, which are distributed in 28 families. Among the species surveyed, Piper callosum Ruiz et Pav. (paregoric elixir/100%), Plectranthus barbatus Benth. (anador/85%), Bupatorium triplinerve Vahl. (japana branca/62%), Ocimum úiride Willd. (favacão/46%), Líppía alba (Mill.) N.E.Br. (lemon balm/46%), Portulaca pilosa L. (lovegrass/38%), Arrabidaea chica Verlot (pariri/38%), and Pbyllantbus niruri (stone-breaker/38%) stood out as the most representative. The medicinal plants are mainly indicated to combat headaches, flu, stomach aches and inflammation, with teas and baths standing out as the form of preparation.
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