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Ethnopharmacological relevance: Witches in Western Europe are associated with the use of medicinal, abortifacient, hallucinogenic, and toxic plants. Curiously, these associations are not backed up by first-hand evidence and historians are unconvinced that people convicted as witches were herbalists. Local plant names provide an untapped source for analysing witchcraft–plant relationships.Aim of the study: We analysed vernacular plant names indicating an association with witches and devils to find out why these species and witchcraft were linked.Materials and methods: We constructed a database with vernacular names containing the terms witch and devil in related north-west European languages. The devil was added because of its association with witchcraft. The plant species’ characteristics (e.g., medicinal use, toxicity) were assessed to determine if there were non-random associations between these traits and their names.Results: We encountered 1263 unique vernacular name–taxa combinations (425 plant taxa; 97 families). Most species named after witches and/or devils were found within the Asteraceae, Ranunculaceae, and Rosaceae. For Dutch, German and English we confirmed associations between witchcraft names and toxicity. Hallucinogenic plants do not appear to be associated with witch-names. For Dutch, we found significant associations between plant names and medicinal and apotropaic uses, although we did not find any association with abortifacient qualities.Conclusions: This study demonstrates that there is a wide variety of plants associated with witches and the devil in north-western Europe. Plant names with the terms witch and devil were likely used in a pejorative manner to name toxic and weedy plants, and functioned as a warning for their harmful properties. Our study provides novel insights for research into the history of witchcraft and its associated plant species.

Suriname’s freshwater systems are home to a large diversity of (endemic) fish species, and communities of Suriname’s interior strongly depend on this diversity for their nutrient intake. However, studies on traditional knowledge of the country’s freshwater fish and fish-plant interactions are scarce. Here, we present our findings of a pilot study in the Aucan Maroon community of Diitabiki (Tapanahoni river). We report the species of freshwater fish caught for food, their corresponding Aucan names and plants eaten by fish and/or used for fishing by the local population. We held semi-structured interviews and performed participant observation with fishers and forest guides in August and September 2021. We recorded 14 fish species, of which 12 were identified to species level, and recorded 16 Aucan fish names, of which nine were previously undocumented. Furthermore, we reported 11 plant species that were used for fishing and one fish poison (Tephrosia sinapou (Buc’hoz) A.Chev.). Suriname’s riverine ecosystems are threatened by gold mining activities that endanger the health of local communities, as well as the fish populations and riverine forests on which both people and fish depend. Local knowledge on fish, their feeding behavior and the flooded forests is essential for the conservation of this important Amazonian ecosystem, for the development of sustainable management plans and health education programs on mercury levels in consumption fish.