BACKGROUND Ethnobotanical studies generally describe the traditional knowledge of a territory according to a "hic et nunc" principle. The need of approaching this field also embedding historical data has been frequently acknowledged. With their long history of civilization some regions of the Mediterranean basin seem to be particularly suited for an historical approach to be adopted. Campania, ...

Tree worship is very common worldwide. This field study surveys the ceremonies and customs related to sacred trees in present-day Israel; it includes the results of interviews with 98 informants in thirty-one Arab, Bedouin, and Druze villages in the Galilee. The main results are: 1. Sacred trees were treated as another kind of sacred entity with all their metaphysical as well as physical manife...

Palms (Arecaceae) are prominent elements in African traditional medicines. It is, however, a challenge to find detailed information on the ritual use of palms, which are an inextricable part of African medicinal and spiritual systems. This work reviews ritual uses of palms within African ethnomedicine. We studied over 200 publications on uses of African palms and found information about ritual ...

BACKGROUND Leading scholars in ethnobiology and ethnomedicine continuously stress the need for moving beyond the bare description of local knowledge and to additionally analyse and theorise about the characteristics and dynamics of human interactions with plants and related local knowledge. Analyses of the variation of local knowledge are thereby perceived as minimal standard. In this study we ...

Pharmacognosy Research,2023,15,1,01-12.DOI:10.5530/097484900286Published:December 2022Type:Review ArticleAuthors:Shreya Dhanaji Bhosale, R Galib, and P K Prajapati Author(s) affiliations:Shreya Bhosale*, Galib R, Department of Rasa Shastra Bhaishajya Kalpana, All India Institute Ayurveda, New Delhi, INDIA. Abstract:Introduction: Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera Linn. Dunal) is an important frequ...

Understanding which factors influence medicinal plant species selection and harvest or use pressure can provide valuable insights for sustainable management of natural resources conservation efforts. The utilitarian redundancy model, a theoretical framework in ethnobotany, suggests that are therapeutically redundant fulfil similar therapeutic functions within traditional ethnomedicine less like...

The study presents the conclusions of a survey, carried out to determine how, by means of plant recipes, the traditional healers of the South Cameroon treat uterine fibromyoma. Fibromyoma causes primary or secondary level infertility, but not sterility. The population concerned was those of the Ambam Division, South Cameroon. The study listed and studied 46 plant species belonging to 32 familie...

BACKGROUND This article explores how people in the Andes incorporate beliefs from both biomedical and ethnomedical systems in treating folk illnesses that often involve spiritual beings. The article focuses on the kharisiri-one who is believed to steal fat and blood from unsuspecting humans to make exchanges with the devil. The kharisiri in turn is rewarded with good fortune. Victims of kharisi...

Of the numerous plant hallucinogens utilized by indigenous populations of the Amazon Basin, perhaps none is as interesting or complex, botanically, chemically, or ethnographically, as the hallucinogenic beverage known variously as ayahuasca, caapi, or yage. The beverage is most widely known as ayahuasca , a Quechua term meaning "vine of the souls," which is applied both to the beverage itself a...