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Using medicinal plants is an ancient and multicultural form of treatment. The objective of this study was to rescue popular knowledge regarding medicinal plants used in a rural community in Southern Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, and discuss the inclusion of this complementary practice in Primary Care. This qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study was conducted using semi-structure interviews with 20 patients between June and July of 2009. The data were analyzed according to themes. The subjects referred 51 medicinal plants, which were related to the digestive (19 plants), respiratory (13), and endocrinal (8) systems, and to hypertension (7) and treatment of infectious diseases (6). The patients used medicinal plants as a complementary treatment, but do not report to healthcare professionals. For Nursing, particularly in rural areas, the impact from using medicinal plants unveils the need for constant knowledge exchange, from an interdisciplinary perspective, thus strengthening its nucleus of action. Descriptors: Plants, Medicinal; Primary Health Care; Community Health Nursing.

We sought to know the medicinal plants used for flu and colds by farmers from the South of Rio Grande do Sul State and to compare it with scientific evidence. This descriptive study was conducted with 12 farmers living at Ilha dos Marinheiros, in the city of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We used descriptive analysis, comparing the results with the scientific literature. Thirteen plants were cited as used for cold and flu: Achyrocline satureioides, Allium sativum, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Citrus limon, Citrus reticulata, Citrus sinensis, Gochnatia polymorpha, Illicium verum, Mentha piperita, Mikania sp., Ocimum selloi, Origanum majorana and Verbena sp. Results show popular knowledge meeting scientific evidence for most indications, seen that 84,6% of cited plants are in agreement with the literature. Thus, we emphasize the richness of popular knowledge, the need of its appreciation and constant approximation of health professionals to this knowledge, integrated with science.