Ethnobotany of the Jicaque of Honduras

An ethnobotanical study was conducted among the Jicaque Indians of the Montana de la Flor reservation in central Honduras to collect information regarding their plant-use practices. The data, including vernacular names, ecological settings, and uses, were recorded during collecting forays with Jicaque informants. Scientific and Jicaque names have been provided for 23 plant species used for food, 11 used for medicine, 4 used for beverages, 3 used as sources of wood, 5 in artifact manufacturing, and 3 used in other ways. Also, a list of 43 species is included for which the Jicaques have a name but no known use.     

Ethnobotany of the mikirs of India

The Mikirs living in Karbi-Anglong district in northeastern India depend on the natural plant resources of their neighbouring forests for much of their food, all their medicine, and for other material cultural needs and recreation. They, of course, use many plants in their magico-religious ceremonies. The area has remained botanically and ethnobotanically unexplored until the recent studies were initiated in 1976. Many heretofore unknown or little-known uses of plants have been recorded. However, much remains to be learnt from this region regarding the use of plants for human welfare.     

Ethnobotany and the future of conservation

Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary science, where botany meets anthropology in the study of traditional uses of native plants. Indigenous peoples know and use a great deal of the plant material around them, though this age-old body of information is now in danger of being lost. How can traditional knowledge and practices help modern conservation and ecology, and how can the possessors of this knowledge retain their rights?     

Ethnobotany of the wild Mexican Cucurbitaceae

This paper presents the results of a survey on the ethnobotany of the wild Mexican Cucurbitaceae. The sources of information were fieldwork in different regions of Mexico, as well as herbarium specimens and bibliographic references. A total of 34 wild species (26.5% of the 128 wild mexican species) of Cucurbitaceae are reported as used in 24 of the 32 states of Mexico. All of the species are called by one or more local names, and 23 are known by names in native languages. The uses comprise 12 categories, including human medicine (18), food (13), soap substitute (12), fodder (4), toy (3), drink (2), ornate (2), insecticide (1), animal medicine (1), handicrafts (2), container (1), and ceremonial (1), and some uses date back to pre-Hispanic and colonial times.

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Etnobotánica de Especies Mexicanas Silvestres de la Familia Cucurbitaceae

Resumen  Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigatión etnobotánica de las especies mexicanas silvestres de la familia Cucurbitaceae. Las fuentes de informatión fueron el trabajo de campo en diferentes regiones de México, así como también ejemplares de herbario y referencias bibliográficas. Un total de 34 especies silvestres (26.5% de las 128 especies silvestres mexicanas) de Cucurbitaceae son reportadas como útiles en 24 de los 32 estados de México. Todas las especies son conocidas por uno o más nombres locales y 23 de ellas reciben nombres en lenguas nativas. Los usos registrados abarcan un total de doce categorías, incluyendo medicina humana (18), alimento (13), substituto de jabón (12), forraje (4), juguete (3), bebidas (2), ornato (2), insecticidas (1), medicina animal (1), artesanías (2), contenedores (1) y ceremonial (1), y algunos de los usos parecen remontarse a las épocas pre-Hispánica y colonial.

     

药用民族植物学及其研究进展

药用民族植物学是研究传统医药或民间医药中植物药及其相关内容的一门由多学科组成的交叉学科。随着科学界对传统医药知识认识的不断加深,药用民族植物学已经受到了世界范围内的普遍关注。本文从传统医药的概念、引起科学界对传统医药知识产生兴趣的原因、民族传统药物的特点、药用民族植物学在发达国家和发展中国家的研究状况等方面对药用民族植物学的研究进展作了综合评述。     

中国李的民族植物学

对我国李属资源的植物学形态、分布、品种、应用开发历史、民族文化等进行了论述.     

药用民族植物学及其研究进展

药用民族植物学是研究传统医药或民间医药中植物药及其相关内容的一门由多学科组成的交叉学科。随着科学界对传统医药知识认识的不断加深 ,药用民族植物学已经受到了世界范围内的普遍关注。本文从传统医药的概念、引起科学界对传统医药知识产生兴趣的原因、民族传统药物的特点、药用民族植物学在发达国家和发展中国家的研究状况等方面对药用民族植物学的研究进展作了综合评述。     

Ethnobotany in the Puuc,Yucatan

Ethnobotanical observations made in 4 weeks during the summer of 1970 are reported. Cooperation of a number of students participating in a University of Alabama summer class made the collection of information more complete, because the students lived in Ticul where many of the observations were made. Cultivation in this part of Yucatan is easily divided into the staple crops, corn, beans, squash, sometimes chili, jicama or sweet potato, grown in milpas and fruits and herbs grown in dooryard gardens. Milpas are usually cultivated for no more than two seasons before they are moved to a new area which has been fallowed for 7 to 10 years. This allows recovery of soil fertility in the very thin soils of the area. Dooryard gardens furnish items for the kitchen and, frequently, a surplus which can be sold for cash. Ticul market is the retail market of the area where both permanent and casual vendors sell produce and other items. The butchers and some of the vegetable and fruit vendors rent the same stall daily while many rural householders with only a small surplus sell a few items during Sunday market from a cloth spread on the ground. The local government fixes stall rental, settles disputes and assumes responsibility for market sanitation. Oxkutxcab market is a wholesale market, reportedly for the whole southern half of Yucatan. The butcher and a very few stall holders sell retail. Produce is largely offered by the basin, burlap bag or other quantity, but never by a single piece. Fruit was the principle commodity during the period of observation. Local government exercises the same control for the Oxkutxcab market as the Ticul government does. Commercial production in the area includes hennequen plantations, many of which are now abandoned, and fruit orchards. Among the local industries involving plant material are manufacturers of rope from hennequen fiber and hats from guano(Sabal mayarum) leaves.     

Ethnobotany of the genusCyphomandra (Solanaceae)

Plants of the genusCyphomandra (Solanaceae) have long been utilized for their edible fruits in their native Latin America. The best-known species is the domesticated tree tomato or tamarillo,Cyphomandra betacea. This species, popular as a raw or cooked fruit, is widely cultivated in Andean South America and is now dispersed worldwide in subtropical areas. Its origin and wild relatives are still unknown, but there are tentative reports of wild populations ofC. betacea in southern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. Wild species ofCyphomandra such asC. hartwegii, C. sibundoyensis, andC. cajanumensis also produce edible fruits. Other species ofCyphomandra are used in medicinal preparations and as dyes. This group of plants is of increasing economic importance and may have considerable potential for future exploitation.     

民族植物学与生物多样性的可持续利用

民族植物学是一门研究人与植物相互关系的学科,用于了解世界各地人与植物的相互关系,对于寻找保护植物的最好方法至关重要,这一科学领域在许多国家被应用于有关植物的传统知识调查记载,大量地方性植物区系中的有用植物编目已经完成.在过去一百年中,从民族植物学调查获得的有关植物的地方性知识,对于药物和农业发展,以及植物新产品开发作出了巨大贡献.自从20世纪60年代以来,科学界更为关注全球环境变化的重要性,现代环境变化的速度是人类历史上从来没有过的.自然资源正以惊人的速度消失,威胁到大量物种以至最终灭绝.面对这一危机,民族植物学研究面临的紧迫任务,不仅是作为一种科学工具应对环境的退化,而且由于它的巨大潜力,能为植物资源可持续利用和农村扶贫作出重要贡献.民族植物学研究对现代发展的贡献是多方面的,其中包括:构建传统植物学信息库为保护和发展服务;管理景观系统为保护工作提供各种形式的帮助;加强社区参与农村发展的活力.本文围绕民族植物学在生物多样性保护和现代农村发展中的作用,生物多样性保护和可持续利用面临的挑战,以及生物与文化途径在利用和保护生物多样性中的作用等进行了探讨.     

民族植物学认识的几个误区

民族植物学是研究一定地区的人群与植物界(包括所有在经济上、文化上和其他方面有重要价值的植物)之间的全面关系,同时也研究社会结构、行为和植物之间的相互作用.民族植物学在寻找新资源、探索植物资源可持续利用和保护途径中已经发挥了非常重要的作用.但民族植物学在我国的发展还相对滞后,其中对民族植物学在理解上存在的误区是导致民族植物学不为更多人所了解的主要因素之一.本文对容易导致对民族植物学产生误解的6个方面(包括"民族植物学就是研究少数民族利用植物的科学"、"民族植物学仅仅是文献考证的一门学科"、"民族植物学无定量方法"等)进行了初步分析,以期让更多的人了解民族植物学,参与到民族植物学研究中来.     

Beyond the white coat ceremony

Note from Anna B. Reisman, Co-Director, Yale Internal Medicine Residency Writers’ Workshop, Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine and VA Connecticut Health Care System: This issue inaugurates a new feature: selected writings from the Yale Internal Medicine Residency Program’s Writers’ Workshop. The annual workshop began in 2003. Abraham Verghese and Richard Selzer, among the best known physician-writers in the United States, have served as workshop leaders, teaching the craft of writing to more than 35 residents. In designing the workshop with my co-director, Dr. Asghar Rastegar, our aim was to make participants better physicians by providing a creative outlet for reflection. The tempo of a resident’s day is typically furious — one patient dies, perhaps, another sickens, a third refuses a necessary procedure, a fourth’s wife cries inconsolably at the bedside — with no time in between to ponder what happened, much less what it meant to the patient or to the resident and how it might shape the way the resident practices medicine in the future. Without time to muse about the experience, many residents take the easy road: They emotionally detach. Writing, we believe, can be an antidote to this tendency. The exercise of writing not only makes us empathic; it also sharpens our diagnostic skills. One of the keys to compelling writing is attention to detail: the nervous twitch of an old man’s eye muscles or the decayed front teeth of a young woman, a former crack addict. Such details not only make our writing come alive but also sensitize us to our patients’ plights and sharpen our diagnostic skills. The stories and essays written by the Writers’ Workshop participants present a range of experiences, real and imagined, and take us deep into the minds of young doctors trying to make sense of what they do.     

民族植物学认识的几个误区

民族植物学是研究一定地区的人群与植物界(包括所有在经济上、文化上和其他方面有重要价值的植物)之间的全面关系, 同时也研究社会结构、行为和植物之间的相互作用。民族植物学在寻找新资源、探索植物资源可持续利用和保护途径中已经发挥了非常重要的作用。但民族植物学在我国的发展还相对滞后, 其中对民族植物学在理解上存在的误区是导致民族植物学不为更多人所了解的主要因素之一。本文对容易导致对民族植物学产生误解的6个方面(包括“民族植物学就是研究少数民族利用植物的科学”、“民族植物学仅仅是文献考证的一门学科”、“民族植物学无定量方法”等) 进行了初步分析, 以期让更多的人了解民族植物学, 参与到民族植物学研究中来。     

新疆药用乌头的民族植物学

本文对新疆乌头属药用植物在哈萨克民族中的应用进行调查,基本弄清乌头属的药用部位、民间药用方法,并对乌头属药用资源的开发应用进行探讨.     

Ethnobotany of the Fort Yukon Region,Alaska

Native plants of the Fort Yukon region, Alaska, were identified as to their medicinal, edible and material uses by the Gwich'in Athabaskan and Caucasian residents. Forty eight species or groups of native plants were identified as having some use predominantly as medicines (40%) and as food or beverage (56%). Their value in past and present Gwich ’in culture is discussed.