The evolution of medicinal floras: insights from Moroccan medicinal plant knowledge transmission

Why some plants are used medicinally, and others not, is not yet totally understood; intrinsic, cultural and floristic factors may be important and their interactions are complex. Plants’ morphological, organoleptic and ecological traits have been evaluated elsewhere. This thesis focuses on the role of cultural transmission of knowledge across generations, societies and floristic environments. Using Morocco as a case study, this thesis describes medicinal plant use among understudied Tashelhit speakers in the High Atlas and specialist healers called ferraggat. The role of knowledge transmission is evaluated in a context of cultural change. Processes of transmission are also inferred from patterns of medicinal plant use regionally; a checklist for Moroccan medicinal plants is compiled and a new method based on biogeographic data is used to test a hypothesis about the influence of the Arab knowledge due to historical migrations into Morocco. Aspects of Ishelhin ethnobotanical knowledge are described through 254 vernacular plant names, which reflect local livelihoods and biodiversity values; 151 vernacular names for medicinal plants correspond to 159 botanical species and are found to treat 36 folk ailments. Men and women listed significantly different medicinal plants; herbal medicine is a women’s domain characterized by low specificity of herbal remedies and widespread use of mixtures. Medicinal plant use is guided by local concepts of health and illness including supernatural aetiologies, which also determine healthcare seeking behaviour. Belief in supernatural causes of illness and difficult access to biomedicine result in preference for ferraggat to treat childrens’ ailments in the High Atlas by a practice called frigg. Seventy plants were documented for this treatment, but emphasis on plants may be a recent substitute for remedies that used primarily wool and blood two generations ago. This is a shift in the objects of cultural meaningfulness in response to the increasing influence of orthodox Islam and state-sponsored modernisation, including public healthcare and schooling. Transmission of knowledge is underpinned by the prestige and legitimacy of alternative remedies and healing systems, which shift during socioeconomic and religious change. With biomedicine available, herbal remedies may not be preferred treatments, unless local explanatory models of illness are maintained. Meta-analysis of the Moroccan medicinal flora supports this view. Although I hypothesised that Saharo-Arabian plants would be overrepresented in the Moroccan medicinal flora, overrepresentation was not significant. Nonetheless, Arabic influence is evidenced through the Moroccan syncretic health system. The combination of pattern and process observation in the field and from macroscale analysis contributes to the understanding of how knowledge transmission shapes medicinal floras

To pick or not to pick: photographic voucher specimens as an alternative method to botanical collecting in ethnobotany

The identification of plants according to the Linnaean system of taxonomy is a cornerstone of ethnobotany, allowing the discipline to be a comparative science. To accomplish plant identification, ethnobotanists have long relied on the collection of voucher specimens and their deposition in herbaria. Here we critically analyze the role of botanical collecting in ethnobotany and bring attention to a range of issues that can complicate, and sometimes hamper, the practice. In lieu of traditional herbarium specimens, the collection of photographic vouchers and their deposition in digital repositories is proposed as an alternative method for ethnobotanical research. The ever-improving quality and ubiquity of smartphone cameras, photographic citizen science applications like Pl@ntnet and iNaturalist, and deep learning techniques of automated photo identification are discussed as elements that are contributing to a slow revolution in the role of digital data in the field sciences. Guidelines for when plant herbarium specimens versus photographic vouchers should be considered required are laid out. Although botanical collecting will doubtless and with good reason remain a foundational practice in ethnobotany, we present the use of photographic vouchers as a valid, scientifically rigorous and, in some situations, preferred method of identification

Treating infants with frigg: linking disease aetiologies, medicinal plant use and careseeking behaviour in southern Morocco

Background: Although most Moroccans rely to some extent on traditional medicine, the practice of frigg to treat paediatric ailments by elderly women traditional healers known as ferraggat, has not yet been documented. We describe the role of these specialist healers, document the medicinal plants they use, and evaluate how and why their practice is changing. Methods: Ethnomedicinal and ethnobotanical data were collected using semi-structured interviews and observations of medical encounters. Information was collected from traditional healers, namely ferraggat, patients, herbalists and public health professionals. Patients’ and healers’ narratives about traditional medicine were analysed and medicinal plant lists were compiled from healers and herbalists. Plants used were collected, vouchered and deposited in herbaria. Results: Ferragat remain a key health resource to treat infant ailments in the rural High Atlas, because mothers believe only they can treat what are perceived to be illnesses with a supernatural cause. Ferragat possess baraka, or the gift of healing, and treat mainly three folk ailments, taqait, taumist and iqdi, which present symptoms similar to those of ear infections, tonsillitis and gastroenteritis. Seventy plant species were used to treat these ailments, but the emphasis on plants may be a recent substitute for treatments that used primarily wool and blood. This change in materia medica is a shift in the objects of cultural meaningfulness in response to the increasing influence of orthodox Islam and state-sponsored modernisation, including public healthcare and schooling. Conclusions: Religious and other sociocultural changes are impacting the ways in which ferraggat practice. Treatments based on no-longer accepted symbolic elements have been readily abandoned and substituted by licit remedies, namely medicinal plants, which play a legitimisation role for the practice of frigg. However, beliefs in supernatural ailment aetiologies, as well as lack or difficult access to biomedical alternatives, still underlie the need for specialist traditional healers

Plant Remains as Sources to Cultural History in Southeast Norway

Plant remains are valuable sources for cultural history. Humans and animals live inextricably together with plants. This article investigates how a large dataset of botanical macrofossils can give insights into cultural history in southeastern Norway in the period 400 BC– AD 400. In this period, iron was introduced in the production of weapons and tools, which led people to change practices in their interaction with nature. Farming is dependent on a great variety of environmental resources for cultivation and the gathering of food, medicine, and fodder. By combining archaeological and botanical data from 40 localities from Viken and Innlandet counties this article investigates the macrofossil diversity within the localities, as well as the regions they belong to. All archaeobotanical finds from the localities have been systematized and analyzed quantitatively. The results reveal patterns in regional biodiversity as well as a representation of species in structures and features in archaeological sites

Historical, archaeological and linguistic evidence test the phylogenetic inference of Viking-Age plant use

In this paper, past plant knowledge serves as a case study to highlight the promise and challenges of interdisciplinary data collection and interpretation in cultural evolution. Plants are central to human life and yet, apart from the role of major crops, people–plant relations have been marginal to the study of culture. Archaeological, linguistic, and historical evidence are often limited when it comes to studying the past role of plants. This is the case in the Nordic countries, where extensive collections of various plant use records are absent until the 1700s. Here, we test if relatively recent ethnobotanical data can be used to trace back ancient plant knowledge in the Nordic countries. Phylogenetic inferences of ancestral states are evaluated against historical, linguistic, and archaeobotanical evidence. The exercise allows us to discuss the opportunities and shortcomings of using phylogenetic comparative methods to study past botanical knowledge. We propose a ‘triangulation method’ that not only combines multiple lines of evidence, but also quantitative and qualitative approaches. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Foundations of cultural evolution’

An ethnomedicinal survey of a Tashelhit speaking community in the High Atlas, Morocco

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Traditional knowledge about medicinal plants from a poorly studied region, the High Atlas in Morocco, is reported here for the first time; this permits consideration of efficacy and safety of current practices whilst highlighting species previously not known to have traditional medicinal use. Aim of the study: Our study aims to document local medicinal plant knowledge among Tashelhit speaking communities through ethnobotanical survey, identifying preferred species and new medicinal plant citations and illuminating the relationship between emic and etic ailment classifications. Materials and methods: Ethnobotanical data were collected using standard methods and with prior informed consent obtained before all interactions, data were characterized using descriptive indices and medicinal plants and healing strategies relevant to local livelihoods were identified. Results: 151 vernacular names corresponding to 159 botanical species were found to be used to treat 36 folk ailments grouped in 14 biomedical use categories. Thirty-five (22%) are new medicinal plant records in Morocco, and 26 described as used for the first time anywhere. Fidelity levels (FL) revealed low specificity in plant use, particularly for the most commonly reported plants. Most plants are used in mixtures. Plant use is driven by local concepts of disease, including “hot” and “cold” classification and beliefs in supernatural forces. Conclusion: Local medicinal plant knowledge is rich in the High Atlas, where local populations still rely on medicinal plants for healthcare. We found experimental evidence of safe and effective use of medicinal plants in the High Atlas; but we highlight the use of eight poisonous species

Climate Change Impacts Can Be Differentially Perceived Across Time Scales: A Study Among the Tuareg of the Algerian Sahara

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MAs an Indigenous community of Algeria and the broader Sahel, the Tuareg hold unique ecological knowledge, which might contribute to broader models of place-based climate change impacts. Between January and April 2019, we carried out semi-structured interviews (N = 23) and focus group discussions (N = 3) in five villages of the province of Illizi, Algeria, to document the local Tuareg community's timeline and ecological calendar, both of which are instruments used to understand place-based reports of climate change impacts. The livelihoods of the Tuareg of Illizi are finely tuned to climate variability as reflected in changes reported in the cadence of events in their ecological calendar (marked by cyclical climatic and religious events). Participants reported rain and temperature irregularities and severe drought events, which have impacted their pastoral and semi-pastoral livelihoods. These reports are aligned with scientifically measured climate observations and predictions. Paradoxically, although participants recall with detail the climatic disasters that happened in the region over the last century, the Tuareg do not explicitly report decadal trends in the frequency of extreme events. The differential perception of climate change impacts across scales can have important implications for undertaking climate change adaptation measures

Which plants matter? A comparison of academic and community assessments of plant value and conservation status in the Moroccan High Atlas

As interest in including local communities and their knowledge in biodiversity conservation increases, challenges to do so become clear. One of them is to harmonize local and academic assessments of conservation status. Here, we document the culturally valuable flora of two Amazigh communities in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains and contrast local conservation observations with IUCN and other red-listing assessments. Our study reveals two levels of mismatch. Unsurprisingly, the species of interest of these two knowledge systems differ considerably. Moreover, species "availability and populations" trends of change and the conservation evaluations often diverge between local and academic assessments. Locally valuable species are rarely threatened, but a focus on locally prioritized species is essential to ensure the active participation of local communities in conservation initiatives. Given the salient role of IUCN Red Lists in guiding conservation action, a better understanding of the differences in plant value and conservation assessments between the two knowledge systems can help harmonize biodiversity conservation and community wellbeing goals.The research has been funded by the MAVA Foundation and the UK Darwin InitiativeAbstractIntroductionMaterials and methods Study area Data collection, plant identification, and data analysesResults Brief ethnobotanical description of the High Atlas locally valuable biodiversity Ethnobotanical knowledge and plant conservation assessmentsDiscussionConclusionReferencesPeer reviewe