Medical Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacology of Europe

Tropical primary forest is often considered to be the most important habitat for traditional peoples to gather medicinal plants. However, the role of weeds, commonly found in disturbed areas, in traditional medicinal floras has been overlooked. Data are presented showing the significant representation of weeds in the medicinal floras of the Highland Maya in Chiapas, Mexico and in the medicinal flora of Native North Americans as a whole. The frequency with which weeds appear in these pharmacopoeias is significantly larger (P<0.0001) than what would be predicted by the frequency of weed species in general. Explanations based on human ecology and biochemical ecology are presented.

Due to the location of Russia between West and East, Russian phytotherapy has accumulated and adopted approaches that originated in European and Asian traditional medicine. Phytotherapy is an official and separate branch of medicine in Russia; thus, herbal medicinal preparations are considered official medicaments. The aim of the present review is to summarize and critically appraise data concerning plants used in Russian medicine. This review describes the history of herbal medicine in Russia, the current situation and the pharmacological effects of specific plants in the Russian Pharmacopoeia that are not included in the European Pharmacopoeia.

Despite their geographical, historical and cultural differences, Bulgaria and Italy share a surprisingly similar patrimony as regards the popular uses of medicinal plants. The extensive knowledge acquired over the centuries by people living in these countries and engaged in agriculture, derives from continuous contact with natural resources. This paper compares approximately 250 medicinal plants present in both countries and used in popular medicine. From this comparison it emerges that knowledge of medicinal plants and their uses are well founded. In fact, more than 80% of the plants are employed in identical or similar kinds of ailments, their preparation also showing marked similarities. The remaining 20% have very different uses, several of these being particularly noteworthy. The role played by edible plants, moreover, is important, about 30% being employed as medicine.