Table 1 Short description of the tables of the database (in italic are listed look-up tables not shown in Figure 2).
Table name | Description |
|---|---|
Ethnobotanical relevée | Details of the ethnobotanical relevée, like site, coordinates, source (e.g. collector) and spatial relevance. This relevée can then contain information on multiple plants. |
Plant | Information relative to the plant, like reference to the phytonym, source (e.g. informant), reliability of the phytonym identification and general notes. A plant can then contain details on multiple uses. |
Plant use | Information on the use of the plant, namely classified use and use category, use description and reliability (especially for information from the ancient treatises or archeological remains). |
Plant preparation | The preparation of the plant is stored according to preparation mode and plant part used. Multiple steps for the preparation of a single plant use (receipt) can also be recorded. |
Phytonym | Different phytonyms, of different types. In this table are stored also the scientific names, including synonyms. |
Taxon assignment | Join table storing the taxon assignments to the phytonyms, with the source and the reliability. For the case of scientific phytonyms, and for most of the Italian phytonyms, the reliability is considered sure. A phytonym can have multiple putative identifications. |
Taxon | Scientific name of the taxon, organized in a hierarchical structure (at different taxonomic levels), e.g. Labiatae > Thymus > Thymus serpyllum. Only the accepted scientific synonym is stored in this table. |
Specimen | Herbal specimen information. |
Herbal collection | Details on the herbal collection. |
Life form | Different life forms, organized in a hierarchical structure (with different detail levels), e.g. Therophytes > erect. |
Phytonym type | Ancient, Italian, popular and scientific names. |
Plant part | Different plant parts, organized in a hierarchical structure (with different detail levels), e.g. aerial part > leaf > young leaf. |
Preparation | Different preparation steps, organized in a hierarchical structure (with different detail levels), e.g. cooked > boiled, fried. |
Reliability | Sure, nearly sure, probable, presumed, doubtful, wrong. |
Site | Different sites, organized in a hierarchical structure (at different spatial scales), e.g. Mediterranean > Italy > South Italy > Campania > Napoli. |
Source | Source description, can be of different types (bibliographic reference, collector, informant, herbal, archeological). According to the referencing tables, only subsets of this table can be selected. |
Spatial relevance | Point, local, municipality, region, province, nation. |
Taxonomic level | Family, genus, species, subspecies. |
Use | Different plant uses, organized in a hierarchical structure (with different detail levels), including medicinal (e.g. health > neurological disease > headache), ceremonial, alimentary, domestic and veterinary uses. |
Use category | Ancient medicine, official medicine, popular, ceremonial |