Articles

In search of traces of the mandrake myth: the historical, and ethnobotanical roots of its vernacular names

Mandrake (Mandragora spp.) is one of the most famous medicinal plant in western cultures since Biblical times and throughout written history. In many cultures, mandrake is related to magic and witchcraft, which i...

Authors: Amots Dafni, Cesar Blanché, Salekh Aqil Khatib, Theodora Petanidou, Bedrettin Aytaç, Ettore Pacini, Ekaterina Kohazurova, Aharon Geva-Kleinberger, Soli Shahvar, Zora Dajic, Helmut W. Klug and Guillermo Benítez

Herbal plants traded at the Kaili medicinal market, Guizhou, China

Marketplaces reflect not only the commerce of an area, but also its culture. In Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture with Kaili as its capital, Guizhou Province, China, traditional medicine is thriv...

Authors: Sizhao Liu, Beixi Zhang, Jiangju Zhou, Qiyi Lei, Qiong Fang, Edward J. Kennelly and Chunlin Long

The loneliness of the long-distance ethnobotanist: a constructive critique of methods used in an ethnoveterinary study in Mongolia

Fieldwork plays an important role in research projects across a variety of fields, especially in the multidisciplinary setting of natural and social science research. As is the nature of fieldwork, things do n...

Authors: Barbara C. Seele, Léanne Dreyer, Karen J. Esler and Anthony B. Cunningham

Shifting perceptions, preferences and practices in the African fruit trade: the case of African plum (Dacryodes edulis) in different cultural and urbanization contexts in Cameroon

Understanding the perceptions, preferences and management practices associated with intraspecific variability of emblematic African tree crops is critical for their sustainable management. In this paper, we ex...

Authors: Aurore Rimlinger, Jérôme Duminil, Taïna Lemoine, Marie-Louise Avana, Armel Chakocha, Alexis Gakwavu, Franca Mboujda, Mélanie Tsogo, Marlène Elias and Stéphanie M. Carrière

Correction to: Selection of medicinal plants for traditional medicines in Nepal

Authors: Durga H. Kutal, Ripu M. Kunwar, Yadav Uprety, Yagya P. Adhikari, Shandesh Bhattarai, Binaya Adhikari, Laxmi M. Kunwar, Man D. Bhatt and Rainer W. Bussmann

Known but not called by name: recreational fishers’ ecological knowledge of freshwater plants in Hungary

Documenting local ecological knowledge (LEK) has recently become a topic of considerable interest. LEK can contribute to various areas of ecology, including habitat management and conservation biology. It has ...

Authors: Viktor Löki, Jenő Nagy, András Nagy, Dániel Babai, Zsolt Molnár and Balázs András Lukács

Zootherapeutic uses of animals excreta: the case of elephant dung and urine use in Sayaboury province, Laos

Despite a widespread aversion towards faeces and urine, animal excreta are used in traditional medicine in many countries since centuries, but records are scattered and few therapeutic uses have been accuratel...

Authors: Jean-Marc Dubost, Phommachack Kongchack, Eric Deharo, Palamy Sysay, Chithdavone Her, Lamxay Vichith, Duffillot Sébastien and Sabrina Krief

Cultural significance of medicinal plants in healing human ailments among Guji semi-pastoralist people, Suro Barguda District, Ethiopia

Traditional medicine has remained the most affordable and easily accessible source of treatment in the primary healthcare system among communities unable to get modern medication. Ethiopian indigenous people h...

Authors: Mersha Ashagre Eshete and Ermias Lulekal Molla

The legacy of traditional rice cultivation by descendants of Indian contract laborers in Suriname

Some 35,000 indentured laborers from India were recruited to work on plantations in Suriname between 1868 and 1916. It is likely that most were familiar with farming before they were shipped to this former Dut...

Authors: Melissa Ramdayal, Harro Maat and Tinde van Andel

Selection of medicinal plants for traditional medicines in Nepal

There are handful hypothesis-driven ethnobotanical studies in Nepal. In this study, we tested the non-random medicinal plant selection hypothesis using national- and community-level datasets through three diff...

Authors: Durga H. Kutal, Ripu M. Kunwar, Yadav Uprety, Yagya P. Adhikari, Shandesh Bhattarai, Binaya Adhikari, Laxmi M. Kunwar, Man D. Bhatt and Rainer W. Bussmann

Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants on Gau Island, Fiji: differences between sixteen villages with unique characteristics of cultural value

Traditional resource management (TRM) systems develop depending on local conditions, such as climate, culture, and environment. Most studies have focused on the TRM system itself, excluding the people who mana...

Authors: Kana Miyamoto, Hiroshi Ehara, Randolph Thaman, Joeli Veitayaki, Takehito Yoshida and Hikaru Kobayashi

The Primate Cultural Significance Index: applications with Popoluca Indigenous people at Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve

The study of the cultural significance (CS) of biodiversity provides key information to develop conservation strategies consistent with traditions and perceptions of human communities. In Los Tuxtlas Biosphere...

Authors: Marianna Pinto-Marroquin, John F. Aristizabal, Yasminda García-Del Valle, Felipe Ruan-Soto and Juan Carlos Serio-Silva

Preserving for the future the — once widespread but now vanishing — knowledge on traditional pig grazing in forests and marshes (Sava-Bosut floodplain, Serbia)

Traditional knowledge is key for sustainability, but it is rapidly disappearing. Pig keeping in forests and marshes is an ancient, once widespread, now vanishing practice, with a major economic and ecological ...

Authors: Zsolt Molnár, Klára Szabados, Alen Kiš, Jelena Marinkov, László Demeter, Marianna Biró, Kinga Öllerer, Krisztián Katona, Marko Đapić, Ranko Perić, Viktor Ulicsni and Dániel Babai

Exploration of ethnomedicinal plants and their practices in human and livestock healthcare in Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The utilization of plants and plant resources for various ethnobotanical purposes is a common practice in local towns and villages of developing countries, especially in regard to human and veterinary healthca...

Authors: Zeeshan Siddique, Nasir Shad, Ghulam Mujtaba Shah, Abid Naeem, Liu Yali, Muhammad Hasnain, Arshad Mahmood, Muhammad Sajid, Muhammad Idrees and Ilyas Khan

In situ conservation of traditional vegetable diversity in Wa homegardens in southwestern Yunnan, China

Homegardens are in situ conservation sources of germplasm diversity for overcoming homogenous germplasm problems in industrial agricultural systems. The Wa people constitute a long-dwelling ethnic group mainly...

Authors: Hua Shao, Rosemary Hill, Dayuan Xue and Jingbiao Yang

Local plant knowledge and its variation among farmer’s families in the Napf region, Switzerland

Local plant knowledge typically is unevenly distributed within a community. This knowledge variation is important in understanding people’s relationship with their environment. Here we ask about knowledge vari...

Authors: Anna Poncet, Christoph Schunko, Christian R. Vogl and Caroline S. Weckerle

Uses, abundance perception, and potential geographical distribution of Smilax aristolochiifolia Mill (SMILACACEAE) on the Totonacapan Region of Puebla, Mexico

In some regions of Mexico, edible wild plants have been displaced or eliminated from the traditional food systems, mainly by changes in land use, booming monoculture, herbicide use, and by changes among the ne...

Authors: José Espinoza-Pérez, César Reyes, Jesús Hernández-Ruíz, Maximino Díaz-Bautista, Francisco Ramos-López, Abel Espinoza-Gómez and Oscar Pérez-García

Prioritization and selection of high fuelwood producing plant species at Boset District, Central Ethiopia: an ethnobotanical approach

In Ethiopia, about 92.3% of all the fuelwood (firewood and/or charcoal) is consumed for cooking, heating and lighting purposes by domestic households and the demand is growing from 10 to 14%. However, there ar...

Authors: Tinsae Bahru, Berhane Kidane and Amsalu Tolessa

Indigenous plant protection practices of Tripura, India

Traditional plant protection strategies have an integral part of food production system in North Eastern state Tripura, India, which has bestowed with rich heritage and biodiversity. However, there is no compr...

Authors: Satyapriya Singh, Biswajit Das, Anup Das, Sujan Majumder, Hidangmayum Lembisana Devi, Ranjeet Singh Godara, Alok Kumar Sahoo and Manas Ranjan Sahoo

Wild edible plants traditionally collected and used in southern Yemen

The local wild edible plants (WEPs) are still used traditionally in the rural communities in Yemen, but this traditional knowledge is still undocumented and has been never reported before. Therefore, this stud...

Authors: Mohamed Al-Fatimi

How does urbanization affect perceptions and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants?

The use and knowledge of medicinal plants play an essential role in community health in rural Mexico. Medicinal plants are part of the local heritage and provide a source of economic income. Nevertheless, know...

Authors: Cecilia Arjona-García, José Blancas, Leonardo Beltrán-Rodríguez, Citlalli López Binnqüist, Hortensia Colín Bahena, Ana Isabel Moreno-Calles, José Antonio Sierra-Huelsz and Xavier López-Medellín

Ethnobotany of the Aegadian Islands: safeguarding biocultural refugia in the Mediterranean

The Aegadian Islands are located west of Trapani, Sicily. Once the site of bountiful tuna fisheries and fruit orchards (plums, peaches, apricots), grapevines, prickly pears, and grains, the local economy is no...

Authors: Alfonso La Rosa, Laura Cornara, Alessandro Saitta, Akram M. Salam, Santo Grammatico, Marco Caputo, Tommaso La Mantia and Cassandra L. Quave

Wild plants used by the Lhoba people in Douyu Village, characterized by high mountains and valleys, in southeastern Tibet, China

Douyu Village, inhabited by the Lhoba people, is situated within the Eastern Himalayas, in southeastern Tibet, China. The village is located among high mountains and valleys, which feature complex terrain with...

Authors: Wen-Yun Chen, Tao Yang, Jun Yang, Zhu-Chuan Qiu, Xiao-Yong Ding, Yu-Hua Wang and Yue-Hu Wang

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding vector-borne diseases in central Mexico

While vector-borne diseases (VBDs) pose an important public health problem worldwide, there is a limited and conflicting knowledge about such illnesses in rural or urban settings. The present study aimed to ex...

Authors: Joel E. Nava-Doctor, César A. Sandoval-Ruiz and Antonio Fernández-Crispín

Ethnobotany of an indigenous tree Piliostigma thonningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redh. (Fabaceae) in the arid and semi-arid areas of South Omo Zone, southern Ethiopia

Trees are important components of terrestrial ecosystems; they provide ecological, economic, and cultural services to humans. There is an urgent need for undertaking ethnobotanical investigations and documenta...

Authors: Mesfin Belete Hailemariam, Zerihun Woldu, Zemede Asfaw and Ermias Lulekal

Ethnozoology among the Berbers: pre-Islamic practices survive in the Rif (northwestern Africa)

Ethnozoological knowledge is less documented than ethnobotanical. With this field study, we aim to record and analyze the Riffian Berber knowledge about the use of animals in traditional human and veterinary m...

Authors: Aymane Budjaj, Guillermo Benítez and Juan Manuel Pleguezuelos

Ichthyological ethnoknowledge of the “piabeiros” from the Amazon region, Brazil

The capture of ornamental fish is one of the main economic activities of riverine families in the Amazon. However, studies regarding the local ecological knowledge of workers in this activity are still incipie...

Authors: Daniel da Silva Ladislau, Maiko Willas Soares Ribeiro, Philip Dalbert da Silva Castro, Jackson Pantoja-Lima, Paulo Henrique Rocha Aride and Adriano Teixeira de Oliveira

Comparative analysis of management practices and end-users’ desired breeding traits in the miracle plant [Synsepalum dulcificum (Schumach & Thonn.) Daniell] across ecological zones and sociolinguistic groups in West Africa

Understanding end-users’ preferred breeding traits and plant management practices is fundamental in defining sound breeding objectives and implementing a successful plant improvement programme. Since such know...

Authors: Dèdéou A. Tchokponhoué, Enoch G. Achigan-Dako, Sognigbé N’Danikou, Daniel Nyadanu, Rémi Kahane, Alfred O. Odindo and Julia Sibiya

Collection calendar: the diversity and local knowledge of wild edible plants used by Chenthang Sherpa people to treat seasonal food shortages in Tibet, China

Wild edible plants (WEPs) are non-cultivated and non-domesticated plants used for food. WEPs provided food, nutrition, herbs and other plant products for people in underdeveloped areas, such as the Everest reg...

Authors: Xiao-Yong Ding, Yu Zhang, Lu Wang, Hui-Fu Zhuang, Wen-Yun Chen and Yu-Hua Wang

On pickles: biological and sociocultural links between fermented foods and the human gut microbiome

The composition of the human microbiome varies considerably in diversity and density across communities as a function of the foods we eat and the places we live. While all foods contain microbes, humans direct...

Authors: Andrew Flachs and Joseph D. Orkin

Notes on current Mbyá-Guarani medicinal plant exchanges in southern Brazil

Experts in the Atlantic Forest, the Guarani people have the habit of transporting and exchanging plants due to their mobility throughout the territory. Historically, this habit contributed to the species compo...

Authors: Julian Henrique Carlotto de Andrade, José Rodrigues, André Benites, Cornélio Benites, Arlindo Acosta, Marcelina Benites, Cocelina Benites, Ilda Gomes, Jaime Valdir da Silva, Eunice Antunes, Elisete Antunes, José Martins, Daniel Martins Timóteo, Santiago Franco, José Cirilo Pires Morinico, Fernanda Ribeiro da Silva…

Wild plants and the food-medicine continuum—an ethnobotanical survey in Chapada Diamantina (Northeastern Brazil)

Ethnobotanical research has demonstrated that several wild food plants (WFP) are used for medicinal purposes. Therefore, in addition to constituting an important source of nutrients, WFP can be used to help tr...

Authors: Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros, Karina Ferreira Figueiredo, Paulo Henrique Santos Gonçalves, Roberta de Almeida Caetano, Élida Monique da Costa Santos, Gabriela Maria Cota dos Santos, Déborah Monteiro Barbosa, Marcelo de Paula and Ana Maria Mapeli

A historical and ethnobotanical study on local botanical knowledge recorded in the book “Mongolia and Amdo and the Dead City of Khara-Khoto”

There is a plentiful amount of local knowledge on plants hidden in the literature of foreign exploration to China in modern history. Mongolia and Amdo and the Dead City of Khara-Khoto (MAKK) is an expedition reco...

Authors: Guixi Liu, Wurheng, Yanying Zhang, Shirong Guo, Yongmei and Khasbagan

What are the factors influencing the aversion of students towards reptiles?

Reptiles form a paraphyletic group with significant roles for human society, including species that are considered important for food, medicinal and mystical use and as pets. Some species are considered to be ...

Authors: Moacyr Xavier Gomes da Silva, Franciany Braga-Pereira, Mikaela Clotilde da Silva, José Valberto de Oliveira, Sérgio de Faria Lopes and Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves

The role of schools as an opportunity for transmission of local knowledge about useful Restinga plants: experiences in southeastern Brazil

The study of cultural transmission can help identify processes that influence knowledge systems dynamics and evolution, especially during childhood and youth, which are fundamental phases in acquiring survival...

Authors: Nicky van Luijk, Gustavo Taboada Soldati and Viviane Stern da Fonseca-Kruel

Nahua biocultural richness: an ethnoherpetological perspective

Mexico harbours one of the greatest biocultural diversities of the world, where multiple social and natural elements and systems form complex networks of interactions in which both culture and nature are mutua...

Authors: Miriam Itzel Linares-Rosas, Benigno Gómez, Elda Miriam Aldasoro-Maya and Alejandro Casas

Ethnobiological study on traditional medicinal plants and fungi recorded in the Naxi Dongba sutras

The Naxi people, living in Southwest China, have a long history and rich characteristic culture. Their ancestors recorded their life practices by ancient hieroglyphs and gradually formed the Dongba Sutras, whi...

Authors: Haitao Li, Zhiyong Li, Xiaobo Zhang, Shaohua Yang, Cui Chen, Qingning Yang, Chengfeng He, Jianqin Liu and Jingyuan Song

Ethnobotany of the medicinal plants used by the ethnic communities of Kerman province, Southeast Iran

Traditional medicine is a major component in the primary healthcare system in the southeast of Iran, which has a rich floral diversity. However, there is no comprehensive report on the use of medicinal herbs i...

Authors: Seyed Hamzeh Hosseini, Hossein Bibak, Abdollah Ramzani Ghara, Amirhossein Sahebkar and Abolfaz Shakeri

Contested or complementary healing paradigms? Women’s narratives of COVID-19 remedies in Mwanza, Tanzania

COVID-19 has caused worldwide fear and uncertainty. Historically, the biomedical disease paradigm established its dominance in tackling emerging infectious illnesses mainly due to innovation in medication and ...

Authors: Gerry Mshana, Zaina Mchome, Diana Aloyce, Esther Peter, Saidi Kapiga and Heidi Stöckl

Fungal ethnoecology: observed habitat preferences and the perception of changes in fungal abundance by mushroom collectors in Poland

Scientists frequently raise the topic of data deficiency related to the abundance and distribution of macrofungi in the context of climate change. Our study is the first detailed documentation on locals’ perce...

Authors: Marcin Andrzej Kotowski, Zsolt Molnár and Łukasz Łuczaj

Breaking the paradigms of residual categories and neglectable importance of non-used resources: the “vital” traditional knowledge of non-edible mushrooms and their substantive cultural significance

One of the main goals of ethnomycological studies has been understanding the role of wild edible mushrooms (WEM) in diverse cultures. To accomplish such a purpose, the local knowledge of WEM and their cultural...

Authors: Amaranta Ramírez-Terrazo, E. Adriana Montoya, Roberto Garibay-Orijel, Javier Caballero-Nieto, Alejandro Kong-Luz and Claudia Méndez-Espinoza

Farmer preferred traits and genotype choices in Solanum aethiopicum L., Shum group

Solanum aethiopicum L. is a nutrient dense African indigenous vegetable. However, advancement of its improved varieties that can increase productivity, household income, and food security has not been prioritized...

Authors: Brenda Nakyewa, Godfrey Sseremba, Nahamya Pamela Kabod, Moses Rwothtimutung, Tadeo Kyebalyenda, Kenneth Waholi, Ruth Buteme, Mildred Julian Nakanwangi, Gerard Bishop and Elizabeth Balyejusa Kizito

The use of medicinal plants to prevent COVID-19 in Nepal

Medicinal plants are the fundamental unit of traditional medicine system in Nepal. Nepalese people are rich in traditional medicine especially in folk medicine (ethnomedicine), and this system is gaining much ...

Authors: Dipak Khadka, Man Kumar Dhamala, Feifei Li, Prakash Chandra Aryal, Pappu Rana Magar, Sijar Bhatta, Manju Shree Thakur, Anup Basnet, Dafang Cui and Shi Shi

Quality blues: traditional knowledge used for natural indigo identification in southern China

As one of the oldest traditional dyes, people worldwide have used natural indigo for centuries. Local people have unique knowledge about indigo identification, which is crucial for indigo quality control and d...

Authors: Yuru Shi, Libin Zhang, Lu Wang, Shan Li, Zuchuan Qiu, Xiaoyong Ding and Yuhua Wang

Traditional food plants of the upper Aswa River catchment of northern Uganda—a cultural crossroads

In the parkland agroforestry system of northern Uganda, smallholder farming households rely on a diversity of plant species to fulfil their nutritional requirements, many of which also serve a range of medicin...

Authors: Eliot T. Masters

Assessment of biodiversity goods for the sustainable development of the chagra in an indigenous community of the Colombian Amazon: local values of crops

The chagra is the agroforestry system adapted to the characteristics of the Amazon region. Recently, there has been a reported loss of biodiversity and traditional knowledge associated with the chagras. This p...

Authors: Giovanny Garavito, Rafael Clavijo, Pilar Luengas, Pablo Palacios and María Helena Arias

Exploring the historical distribution of Dracaena cinnabari using ethnobotanical knowledge on Socotra Island, Yemen

In this study, we present and analyze toponyms referring to Socotra Island’s endemic dragon’s blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari) in four areas on the Socotra Archipelago UNESCO World Heritage site (Republic of Yemen...

Authors: Abdulraqeb Al-Okaishi

Ethnobotanical biocultural diversity by rural communities in the Cuatrociénegas Valley, Coahuila; Mexico

Cuatrociénegas, part of the Chihuahuan Desert, is a region of unique biological, geological, geographical, and evolutionary importance. Its current population is mestizo; nevertheless, it has high national his...

Authors: Eduardo Estrada-Castillón, José Ángel Villarreal-Quintanilla, Juan Antonio Encina-Domínguez, Enrique Jurado-Ybarra, Luis Gerardo Cuéllar-Rodríguez, Patricio Garza-Zambrano, José Ramón Arévalo-Sierra, César Martín Cantú-Ayala, Wibke Himmelsbach, María Magdalena Salinas-Rodríguez and Tania Vianney Gutiérrez-Santillán

Homegarden agroecosystems managed by Salar people on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Salar is a Turkic-speaking Islamic ethnic group in China living mainly in Xunhua Salar Autonomous County (Xunhua or Xunhua County), Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Salar people are skilled in horticulture and their hom...

Authors: Mingjing Zhu, Binsheng Luo, Ben La, Ruijie Chen, Fenggui Liu and Chunlin Long

Ethnobotanical study on herbal market at the Dragon Boat Festival of Chuanqing people in China

The Chuanqing people (穿青人) are a linguistic group native to the Guizhou Province of China, with unique culture and rich knowledge of traditional medicinal plants. Herbal market at Dragon Boat Festival (DBF) pl...

Authors: Qinghe Wang, Ling Zhao, Chi Gao, Jiawen Zhao, Zixuan Ren, Yuxiang Shen, Ruyu Yao and Hongxiang Yin