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Folk songs reflect a deep interrelationship between man and nature that developed over centuries and can be viewed as biocultural heritage. This study aims to present the most important plant and landscape elements in the traditional songs of Slovakia. In this study, 4,341 Slovak folk songs were analyzed. Songs carrying information about vascular plant species were analyzed according to the song type and the fragment of the song where plant species or landscape elements appeared. This information was used to create a dataset of all the mentioned vascular plants and their use. Plants were mentioned in 31% of Slovak folk songs, which corresponded to 1,354 songs. A total of 121 plant taxa were identified, of which 56 were wild, 50 were cultivated, 13 were exotic, and two were unidentified, corresponding to 50 plant families. The most cited from all mentioned plants (including both identified, or unidentified taxa) were rose (9%), grapevine (5.7%), rosemary (5.1%), rye (4.1%), maple (3.9%), and apple (3.9%). Landscape elements were mentioned in 26.4%, corresponding to 1,148 songs. The folk songs reflected the mainly mountainous character of Slovakia. Forests were the most mentioned, corresponding to 30.6% of landscape element citations. Folk songs contribute to the preservation of traditional ecological knowledge and help to better understand past relationship of our ancestors to land and nature.

The aim of this article is to find, scientifically define, and locate the most frequent occurrences of the gardens of Transylvania in the Late Renaissance period (17–18th centuries), and to collect and prepare a comprehensive plant list of these gardens. During our investigation, based on archival and literary sources, as well as field studies carried out, we identified 81 Late Renaissance residency gardens located in Transylvania. We defined the most typical garden types for the region and we delineated the most characteristic ornamental, fruit, and vegetable plants, including fodder plants, used at that time in residential gardens. Meanwhile, the article intends to give a general overview of the first decisive time period in the Carpathian Basin, represented by the Late Renaissance garden art, from a garden and landscape architectural point of view.

This document contains excerpts from a work in progress focusing on the ethnobotany of the Pawnee Native Americans. The effort being made is to consolidate research findings to provide a written record specifically addressing plant use by the Pawnee. The majority of the information gained was through literature reviews which provided a historic perspective. However, living among the Pawnee for twenty-two years has provided some insight into modern uses of some plants. A priority at the onset was to identify and describe the broad-ranging application of plants within their culture. All the ethnobotanical examples here are based on plants that have been documented in Oklahoma. Each plant is related to its currently known biogeography in Kansas and Nebraska which was regionally part of their historic homeland until their removal to Oklahoma beginning in 1875.

Palms (Arecaceae) are one of the most important families of useful plants, and indigenous societies have developed very distinct ways of utilizing this resource. The clonal Euterpe oleracea Mart. has long been used for the preparation of frothy beverages in the eastern Amazon, in particular by colonists and caboclos, but to a much lesser extent by the indigenous population. Euterpe precatoria Mart., which grows in the western Amazon, is traditionally reported as resource for construction and thatch, but not as important species in alimentation. Our recent work indicates that the use of both species has dramatically shifted in the recent past. Prices for Euterpe products have increased dramatically due to the global commodization first of palm hearts and “Açaí berry juice” as nutritional supplement. This is especially evident in western Amazonia: In Bolivia and Peru, where older indigenous informants mostly reported thatch and houseposts as regular use for E. precatoria and did not know E. oleracea. Younger informants most commonly reported to a large extent on E. precatoria being used for the production of palm hearts, but less for other, while the youngest informants in many cases only knew E. precatoria fruits as source of beverages, as commercial fruit, and as source for handicrafts, and indicated that E. oleracea was being introduced because the species yielded higher harvests. In addition, many mid-age and younger informants reported Euterpe sp. as medicinal species, a less frequently mentioned by older informants. The local mestizo population in contrast had a broader distributed knowledge with regard to “food” uses of Euterpe sp., and mentioned the species as source of construction material less frequently.

Abstract This paper reports on the plant use of laypeople of the Oromo in Southern Ethiopia. The Oromo in Bale had names/uses for 294 species in comparison to 230 species documented in the lower reaches of the Bale area. Only 13 species was used for veterinary purposes, or as human medicine (46). Plant medicine served mostly to treat common everyday ailments such as stomach problems and diarrhea, for wound treatment and as toothbrush-sticks, as anthelmintic, for skin infections and to treat sore muscles and. Interestingly, 9 species were used to treat spiritual ailments and to expel demons. In most cases of medicinal applications the leaves or roots were employed. Traditional plant knowledge has clearly declined in a large part of the research area. Western style health care services as provided by governments and NGOs, in particular in rural areas, seem to have contributed to a decline in traditional knowledge, in part because the local population simply regards western medicine as more effective and safer.

The New World aquatic macrophyte Sehoenoplectus californicus (= Scirpus californicus) is widespread along the Andes of Ecuador, where it is of great economic and cultural importance to indigenous people. Most importantly, its stems are used to make mats that are sold throughout the country with some exported to Colombia, Peru, the United States, and Italy. The estimated area of production in the Ecuadorian provinces of Imbabura, Cotopaxi, and Chimborazo is 442 hectares. One matcan be made from a 0.75 m2 totora stand area. In Imbabura, 100 m2 of totora stand yields 266 mats annually, bringing in a gross income of US $251, corresponding to 22% of the official minimum salary in Ecuador. The plant also provides highly nutritionalforage and is an excellent food source for cattle during periods of drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]