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This paper presents research on the dispersal of objects from the Museum of Economic Botany at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (rbgk) from 1847 to 1914. Established by William Hooker, the museum received thousands of objects from around the world, the display of which was designed to illustrate plants’ properties and economic potential. The paper argues that the conventional focus in museum studies on processes of acquisition and accumulation captures only one side of collections’ history. Drawing on research in archives and collections at Kew and elsewhere, we highlight the redistribution of specimens and artefacts from Kew’s museum through a variety of channels. We focus on three modes of circulation: firstly, Kew’s role as a clearing house for collections; secondly the exchange of objects; and thirdly the distribution of specimens and artefacts to schools across the British Isles, a practice which became prevalent towards the end of the period.

The paper provides information on traditional knowledge of plants used by fringe forest communities of village Lwali (District Pauri Garhwal). The paper deals with 35 plant species belonging to 34 genera of 29 families, that find mention in the local folklore. The plants have been provided with botanical names, vernacular names, parts used and ethnobotanical uses.

Ethnobotany is the study of plants used, conserved and managed by the local people. It deals with local people knowledge of a particular use of plants in gastronomical, medical, religious, and other purposes. Ethnobotany is a rapidly growing scientific topic and it is predominantly linked to economic botany: on the one hand to determine the potential economic value of various plants and, on the other, to make a link with a relatively new aspect of sustainable tourism market. The culture and heritage of destinations are significant pull-factors in attracting domestic and international tourists. Sustainable tourism phenomenon today and in the near future is in the direction of the assumption that the relevant destination contains gastronomic culture. In recent years, different studies have been conducted in terms of collecting as much information as possible about the relationship between traditional use of edible plant species with gastronomic offer and the increase of sustainable tourism development. The traditional food and local plant resources of a particular interest for sustainable tourism activities in Mudurnu were investigated in this paper. Mudurnu was preferred for this study because of its rich natural, historical and cultural resources which contain as main parts of ecotourism supply. To reach the objective of this study, some interviews were utilized on a key important people and local people living in villages. In this study, special attention was paid to the use of traditional ethnobotany knowledge in local gastronomy and its effect to sustainable tourism development.

Received: 2016-08-07 | Accepted: 2016-09-13 | Available online: 2017-09-30 http://dx.doi.org/10.15414/afz.2017.20.03.60-65 This paper quantifies the diversity of natural and artificial allochthonous materials in bee pollen pellets and assesses their impact on potential applications. Bee products used in medicine, pharmacology and food products contain honey bee wax, propolis and flower pollens, and bee pollen pellet composition is dependent on the flower’s locality and methods used in technological preparation and storage. The quality of commercially available pollen and its positive and negative mode-of-actions are significantly influenced by natural and artificial allochthonous substances. The flower pollen pellets for this study were obtained from the Levice district in the Slovak Republic and analysed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). These visual and chemical analyses confirmed; (i) 4 different botanical pollen species were present in the pellets, (ii) minimal harmful substances were detected; with bee fragments and dead fungal hyphae biomass noted, (iii) different types of soil particles/aggregates were adsorbed; mainly Fe, Si oxides, silicates and alumosilicates and (iv) analysis revealed one artificial Ti-Mn-Fe grain, but this was most likely a residue from technological processes. Determination of all hazardous substances is necessary for bee pollen to be widely commercially available as food nutritional and energy supplements, and this can be achieved by microscopic study and the wide range of current analytical techniques. Keywords: bee pollen, food sources, pollen pellets, soil particles, artificial contaminants References Almeida-Muradian, L.B. et al. (2005) Chemical composition and botanical evaluation of dried bee pollen pellets. In Journal of Food Composition and Analysis , vol. 18, pp. 105−111. 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Organic agriculture projects have advanced biodiversity as a key goal and outcome of their methods, in part by encouraging non-chemical inputs and non-genetically modified seeds. In India, organic cotton agriculture has been marketed as a specific alternative to genetically modified cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), India's only legal GM crop. However, previous work has shown that the same production pressures that drive GM agriculture to lack biodiversity do not necessarily apply to Indian cotton farms. On organic farms in the Adilabad district of Telangana, India, organic farmers are growing nearly 100 semi-managed foods, trees, and medicines belonging to 37 botanical families. However, organic groups target farmers that may be more inclined to cultivate agrobiodiversity anyway. This paper draws on household surveys, field interviews, and ethnographic research among ethnic Gond farmers participating in a corporate organic program to suggest that such alternative agriculture schemes find ways to reward farmer...

Sesbania is a genus in the family Leguminosae that has been widely used by people in tropical and subtropical regions, especially in Southeast Asia. Information about Sesbania uses and their characteristics such as chemical compounds were obtained from 233 papers, reports and books. We found evidence for 22 Sesbania species being used. They were used for human food (10 species), animal food (9), poisons (1), medicines (10), environments (8), materials (7), fuel (2) and social purposes (1). Sesbania grandiflora and S. sesban were used more than the other species. Sesbania grandiflora was the only species with uses in all categories. Sesbania sesban was used in six categories. Sesbania grandiflora had the highest number of use records in almost all categories, except for fuel in which S. sesban had more records. The aerial parts, especially the soft, young parts were consumed by both humans and animals. Some Sesbania species contained high amounts of proteins (41% of protein in S. javanica), vitamin C (145 mg/100 g in S. grandiflora) and high amounts of calcium (666 mg/100 g in S. grandiflora). Sesbania species have been used to treat 20 subcategories of human disorders, and also as veterinary medicines. Sesbania possessed 1-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-2-hydroxy-N-pentadecanamide, 2-hydroxy-N-decanamide, betulinic acid, isovestitol, medicarpin, oleanolic acid 3-β-D-glucuronide, pinitol, saponin, sativan, sesbanimide, stigmasterol and triterpene acid 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside for which pharmacological properties had been tested. Sesbania also has cardioprotective, antidiabetic, antiurolithiatic, hypolipidemic, anticancer, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory effects. Sixteen microorganisms were found to be inhibited by Sesbania. Sesbania species are well-known for their use as green manures and seven species were recorded for this purpose. Sesbania also have properties that make them useful for pollution control. Regarding material uses, five Sesbania species were used for their fibers and Sesbania bispinosa was used in the production of fabrics. Besides the uses, Sesbania species also have other economic importance as weeds, pest host, and host for an economic plant. Eight species of Sesbania appear to have negative effects as weeds and pest-host and one species (Sesbania grandiflora) was the host for sandalwood. There was evidence that Sesbania could inhibit growth of animals and plants. Moreover, Sesbania seeds in too large doses are lethal to some animals. According to the vast advantages, the knowledge of Sesbania uses, including the safe dosages, should be passed on for the welfare of humans.

Ethnobotany of Synandrospadix vermitoxicus (Araceae) in the Gran Chaco and neighbouring regions. Synandrospadix vermitoxicus is a native species of the Gran Chaco (Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina) and neighbouring regions. An ethnobotanical investigation was conducted with the aim of summarising vernacular knowledge on the plant: common names, uses, its role in social and cultural life, as well as stressing the interest and value attached by human groups of the region. This paper is a summary of original data obtained in situ, in addition to those recorded in bibliographic sources. Oral information and herbarium material was collected during fieldwork carried out with eight ethnic groups, as well as with natives-criollos (local non-indigenous people) from Argentina and Paraguay. In order to contextualise the ethnobotanical information, brief references on the taxonomy, floristics, morphology, ecology, and phytonymy associated with this plant are added. Notes are also included on the plant’srole in different cultural settings: food, medicine, veterinary practice, magic, toxicology, mythology and witchcraft. Attention is drawn to the value of the plant for the ethnic peoples and settlers in the GranChaco and the interest it holds for them. The need to preserve it as natural and cultural heritage is also expressed.

El objetivo de este trabajo fue relevar las plantas usadas con fines terapéuticos por los habitantes de un sector costanero del Río de la Plata entre los balnearios Bagliardi y La Balandra. Se identificaron 36 especies utilizadas en la medicina popular, 10 de las cuales también se usan como condimento., In this paper the objective was to survey therapeutic plants used by the inhabitants in a coastal region located along Rio de la Plata and between the riverside resort of Bagliardi and La Balandra. Thirty six species used in folk medicine were recorded among them ten are also used as condiment., Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Laboratorio de Morfología Comparada de Espermatófitas