India’s medicinal-plant traditions represent a large and dynamic interface between indigenous knowledge, biodiversity, pharmacology and healthcare. This review critically synthesizes selected peer-reviewed and institutional literature published from 2010 through 2026, with emphasis on Indian ethnomedicinal surveys, quantitative ethnobotany, pharmacological validation, conservation, botanical authentication and emerging research priorities. The period begins with influential quantitative fi eld studies that used informant consensus, use-value and related indices to move beyond purely descriptive inventories, and extends to contemporary systematic reviews integrating phytochemistry, safety, quality control, conservation and evidence translation. Across the literature, leaves are repeatedly prominent in remedy preparation, while gastrointestinal, dermatological, respiratory, metabolic, wound-care and inflammatory indications recur across regions. At the same time, the evidence base remains uneven: traditional-use documentation is abundant, but botanical authentication, standardized extracts, toxicology, mechanistic work and clinical validation are much less consistent. Conservation concerns have intensified because habitat loss, climate stress, destructive harvesting and market demand affect medicinal-plant populations. The review argues for a next-generation framework that links community-led documentation with voucher-backed taxonomy, quantitative ethnobotany, reproducible pharmacology, safety assessment, sustainable cultivation, digital repositories and equitable benefit sharing. Rather than treating ethnomedicine as either folklore or proof of efficacy, the 2010-2026 literature supports its use as a structured source of hypotheses, conservation priorities and culturally grounded healthcare knowledge.