Local health practices and the knowledge of medicinal plants in a Brazilian semi-arid region: environmental benefits to human health

Table 3 Percentage of citations of the main medicinal plant species (for plants cited by at least 30% of two communities)

	Botanical name	Family	Env	MA	CA	BA	Average
Cultivated species	Mentha sp1.	Lamiaceae	B	83	60	89	77
	Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng.	Lamiaceae	B	83	60	89	77
	Ruta graveolens L.	Rutaceae	B	46	80	61	62
	Rosmarinus officinalis L.	Lamiaceae	B	50	60	61	57
	Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers.	Crassulaceae	B	42	53	50	48
	Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E.Br. ex Britton & P.Wilson	Verbenaceae	B	58	33	44	45
	Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck	Rutaceae	B	58	33	17	36
	Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f.	Xanthorrhoeaeceae	B	42	33	17	31
	Ocimum gratissimum L.	Lamiaceae	B	33	33	6	24
	Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) B.L. Burtt & R.M. Sm.	Zingiberaceae	B	38	0	27	22
Harvested wild species	Stryphnodendron coriaceum Benth.	Fabaceae	C; F; P; B	38	60	50	49
	Himatanthus drasticus (Mart.) Plumel	Apocynaceae	C; F P; B	42	60	44	49
	Scoparia dulcis L.	Plantaginaceae	SF; B	63	53	22	46
	Hymenaea stigonocarpa Mart. ex Hayne	Fabaceae	C; Caa; P; F;B	54	53	22	43
	Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão	Anacardiaceae	C; F; P	50	40	33	41
	Chenopodium ambrosioides L.	Chenopodiaceae	B	48	27	50	40
	Jatropha gossypiifolia L.	Euphorbiaceae	SF; B	46	60	11	39
	Hancornia speciosa Gomes	Apocynaceae	C; P; B	33	40	39	37
	Hybanthus calceolaria (L.) Oken	Violaceae	F; S; B	17	33	44	32
	Coutarea hexandra (Jacq.) K. Schum.	Rubiaceae	C; Caa; F; P	38	33	6	26

Env = environment of occurrence; MA = Macaúba; CA = Cacimbas; BA = Maracujá; P = mountain plateau; F = foothills; C = Cariri; B = Backyards; SF = Secondary forest; Caa = Caatinga.

ISSN: 1746-4269