Local knowledge about cacti in rural communities in the mesoregion of Paraíba State (Northeastern Brazil)

The goal of this study was to record the uses and knowledge of cacti in the rural communities of Barroquinha and Besouro, in the municipality of Lagoa, in Paraíba, Brazil. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 52 informants (men and women). The cacti cited were organized into eight categories of use. Five species were identified in the communities: Cereus jamacaru DC., Melocactus sp., Pilosocereus chrysostele (Vaupel) Byles & G. D. Rowley, Nopalea cochenillifera (L.) Salm-Dyck and Pilosocereus gounellei (F.A.C. Weber) Byles & Rowley. We registered 201 citations of use in Barroquinha, which were placed in seven categories, and 76 citations in Besouro, which were placed in eight categories. In both communities, C. jamacaru was the most used specie and forage was the most common category of use. Within the communities, the menand women had similar knowledge about these plants. In relation to the transmission of knowledge, there was a predominance of a vertical transmission, from parents to children. Based on the categories applied to the species, the various uses recorded show that these cacti are important to the Besouro and Barroquinha communities.