EthnobotanySpring Term 2015

By Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Course Information

• http://courses.knox.edu/bio320

Books on Reserve

And another book on reserve

What is Ethnobotany?

• Ethnobotany is the study of plants used by primitive and aboriginal people. – John W. Harshberger 1895

What is Ethnobotany?

• A better definition is:

Ethnobotany is the study of the interactions of plants and people, including the influence of plants on human culture.

Oaxaca, Mexico

Two Aims of Ethnobotany Are:

1) To document facts about plant use and plant management

2) To elucidate the ethnobotanical text by defining, describing and investigating ethnobotanical roles and processes

- Janis Alcorn, 1995

Indigenous

• from the Latin – Indigena – native or long-adapted to an area

Traditional People Pakistan

How many years in residence does it take to become indigenous?

Navajo – 16th Century Ojibwa – about 1600 Maasai – late 17th Century

Folk Botany

Why study use of plants by indigenous people?

1. The relationships between plants and people are often clearer in indigenous societies than in westernized societies

Collecting data in Polynesia

How is a pencil made?

Or a roll of toilet paper?

Or a t-shirt?

Or even corn starch?

Why study use of plants by indigenous people?

2. Indigenous cultures may represent living analogues of the prehistorical stages of western civilization

Greek bas relief

Why study use of plants by indigenous people?

3. Indigenous cultures retain much knowledge concerning plants that western peoples have largely lost

Ethnobotany class sampling teas

Why study use of plants by indigenous people?

4. Indigenous peoples are stewards of some of the most sensitive ecosystems on earth

Amazonian Shaman

Why study use of plants by indigenous people?

5. Indigenous people are very vulnerable to rapid cultural and economic change - understanding traditional ways, including use of plants, can point to strategies to minimize negative consequences of that change

Native Australian Painting

Ethnobotanical study of traditional cooking methods in Texas

From ethnobotanist Phil Deering

What is this plant good for?

Echinacea pallida – Pale Purple Coneflower

Perhaps medicine

Considering what a plant is good for leads to other questions

• Where does the plant normally occur?

• How is the plant cultivated?

• Can we combine natural occurrence and cultivation in a mutually beneficial system?

Why are plants so vital?Because Plants are Producers.

Van Helmont

Plant Chemistry