Ethnobotany is defined as, "the study of the interactions and relationships of people and plants over time and space (1).” While our world experiences immense leaps in technological advances, we still find ourselves standing on the same soil our ancestors trod upon thousands of years ago. Despite the fact that most children can identify more logos than plant or animal species from their bioregion does not mean that we are not dependent on them. Humans and plants have a unique evolutionary history. Often mutualistic, we cannot survive without plants in their various forms, wild and cultivated. Most of them, however, would happily continue growing without meddling from humans. But where does ethnobotany fit in today’s society? Is it still a relevant field of study? Is it antiquated? How does it serve us?
I argue that the study of people and plants interactions is relevant today, especially in a biodiverse place such as Appalachia. It becomes abundantly clear the deeper one looks into our current global ecological crisis: humankind is rapidly losing their connection to the natural world, and with it, the plant kingdom. This bodes poorly not only for humans and their collective botanical knowledge, but also for the ecosystems that support these plants which we no longer deem valuable. Appalachia, as a region of extraction and ecological devastation, is especially vulnerable to losing the rich plant knowledge bases which were born out of a unique mixture of the cultures which make up the population.
While many deep ecologists will rally to the cry of “save the Earth for it’s own sake!” we must look realistically at the current mindset and cultural reality of most people. We must also look at the socio-economic factors contributing to habitat and species loss in Appalachia. Inspiring people to see value in plants and ecosystems can help to preserve them, for we now live in an anthropocentric world, and our sustainability in the long term depends upon the choices we make now.
The call to instill value in plants and their habitats is not the only reason to study and support ethnobotanical knowledge. While many would call herbalism and traditional healing modalities quackery, the key to many of our most effective modern medicines lie locked within the complex, phytochemical world. Tapping into traditional healing systems and using the tools of modern science, new discoveries of cures for the age of antibiotic resistant bacteria and mega viruses can be made. See for example this article on a recent study of an ancient Anglo Saxon remedy that has been found to kill MRSA bacteria very effectively. While not all healing practices have a basis in fact, many do, and it is worth it to examine and test as many as we can to see where those truths lie before the plant species and the knowledge of their uses are lost.
Ethnobotany is also a key to the future of our sustainability as humans. It provides unique income sources when combined with permacultural and agroecological practices, for many untapped opportunities lie in wait of a business-minded individual who values ecological viability. Take, for example, the abundance of invasive species which dominate much of the country. Kudzu, the most hated plant in the South, has a myriad of uses that could be tapped into on a large scale, such as animal fodder, human food, medicines to treat alcoholism and silken cloth. Japanese knotweed is currently being studied for its use in treating Lyme’s disease, while Barberry hides berberine rich roots beneath the soil that are as useful medicinally as the endangered Goldenseal.
Many sustainable economic possibilities that lie within the plant world. Both old uses and new innovations provide an array of exciting prospects. Many do not know that the first cloth most likely made by humans was woven from none other than Stinging Nettle. It produces a fine, soft cloth still used today in countries like Nepal. This fast-growing plant prefers poor soils and provides a multi-use function of nutrient rich edibility, medicinal properties, low ecological impact, and luxurious textile products. Further study into seemingly lowly plants like nettles can yield inspiring economic opportunities that add to and do not deplete the environment.
Ethnobotany also provides a support to the continued preservation of ecological biodiversity. Only twelve plant species make up over 75 % of our entire food supply, and only fifteen mammal and bird species make up more than ninety percent of global domestic livestock production. Native Americans in North America gathered and used almost 1800 different plants, algae, lichens and fungi. Genetic biodiversity helps to ameliorate against crop losses and disease and pest epidemics. It also enhances the human diet and promotes health, as a multitude of plant foods offer different minerals and nutrient profiles rather than relying on a few simple carbohydrate grain foods to support a population. By preserving and supporting the active use and study of ethnobotanically useful plants, especially in indigenous groups, not only can centuries old ways remain intact, but the multitude of plant uses supported by those knowledge bases can be a part of the effort to achieve cultural biodiversity.
This site aims to create a space for uniquely Appalachian ethnobotanical information and resources. Since its inception at the turn of the century, ethnobotany has largely been concerned with categorizing and listing useful plants in far away lands. Appalachia is one of the most biodiverse areas to the United States, due to its biogeography, plant and human migration patterns, and abundance of microhabitats. It also boasts a huge selection of edible and medicinal wild plants, as well as a temperate climate suited to growing a wide variety of crops.
The region also boasts a large body of medicinal plants knowledge that preserves a mix of European, African, and Native American plants and healing modalities. Bioregional ethnobotany, or a plant use system and body of knowledge firmly grounded in a certain ecosystem or region, provides local solutions for the struggles that are being felt throughout the world through supporting the protection, growth, and use of plants from one’s immediate surroundings. As climate change and careless extractive practices such as mountain top removal continue to alter the surface of our region, learning about the plants and their uses in our biome is the first step towards fostering a feeling of value and identity with plants that, like ginseng or sassafras, are part of the Appalachian identity and the medical herbal lexicon which still provide medical and economic relevance today.
Works Cited
1. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College. "Biodiversity and Food Production." Biodiversity and Food Production. The Center for Health and the Global Environment, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
2. Turner, Nancy Jean, and Patrick von Aderkas. "Sustained By First Nations: European Newcomers' Use Of Indigenous Plant Foods In Temperate North America." Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81.4 (2012): 295-315. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
3. Penafiel, Daniela, et al. "A Systematic Review On The Contributions Of Edible Plant And Animal Biodiversity To Human Diets." Ecohealth 8.3 (2011): 381-399. Environment Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
4. Pardo-de-Santayana, Manuel, and Manuel J Macía. "Biodiversity: The Benefits Of Traditional Knowledge." Nature 518.7540 (2015): 487-488. MEDLINE. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
5. Loucks, C., D. Olson, E. Dinerstein, A. Weakley, R. Noss, J. Stritholt, and K. Wolfe. "Appalachian Blue Ridge Forests." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
I argue that the study of people and plants interactions is relevant today, especially in a biodiverse place such as Appalachia. It becomes abundantly clear the deeper one looks into our current global ecological crisis: humankind is rapidly losing their connection to the natural world, and with it, the plant kingdom. This bodes poorly not only for humans and their collective botanical knowledge, but also for the ecosystems that support these plants which we no longer deem valuable. Appalachia, as a region of extraction and ecological devastation, is especially vulnerable to losing the rich plant knowledge bases which were born out of a unique mixture of the cultures which make up the population.
While many deep ecologists will rally to the cry of “save the Earth for it’s own sake!” we must look realistically at the current mindset and cultural reality of most people. We must also look at the socio-economic factors contributing to habitat and species loss in Appalachia. Inspiring people to see value in plants and ecosystems can help to preserve them, for we now live in an anthropocentric world, and our sustainability in the long term depends upon the choices we make now.
The call to instill value in plants and their habitats is not the only reason to study and support ethnobotanical knowledge. While many would call herbalism and traditional healing modalities quackery, the key to many of our most effective modern medicines lie locked within the complex, phytochemical world. Tapping into traditional healing systems and using the tools of modern science, new discoveries of cures for the age of antibiotic resistant bacteria and mega viruses can be made. See for example this article on a recent study of an ancient Anglo Saxon remedy that has been found to kill MRSA bacteria very effectively. While not all healing practices have a basis in fact, many do, and it is worth it to examine and test as many as we can to see where those truths lie before the plant species and the knowledge of their uses are lost.
Ethnobotany is also a key to the future of our sustainability as humans. It provides unique income sources when combined with permacultural and agroecological practices, for many untapped opportunities lie in wait of a business-minded individual who values ecological viability. Take, for example, the abundance of invasive species which dominate much of the country. Kudzu, the most hated plant in the South, has a myriad of uses that could be tapped into on a large scale, such as animal fodder, human food, medicines to treat alcoholism and silken cloth. Japanese knotweed is currently being studied for its use in treating Lyme’s disease, while Barberry hides berberine rich roots beneath the soil that are as useful medicinally as the endangered Goldenseal.
Many sustainable economic possibilities that lie within the plant world. Both old uses and new innovations provide an array of exciting prospects. Many do not know that the first cloth most likely made by humans was woven from none other than Stinging Nettle. It produces a fine, soft cloth still used today in countries like Nepal. This fast-growing plant prefers poor soils and provides a multi-use function of nutrient rich edibility, medicinal properties, low ecological impact, and luxurious textile products. Further study into seemingly lowly plants like nettles can yield inspiring economic opportunities that add to and do not deplete the environment.
Ethnobotany also provides a support to the continued preservation of ecological biodiversity. Only twelve plant species make up over 75 % of our entire food supply, and only fifteen mammal and bird species make up more than ninety percent of global domestic livestock production. Native Americans in North America gathered and used almost 1800 different plants, algae, lichens and fungi. Genetic biodiversity helps to ameliorate against crop losses and disease and pest epidemics. It also enhances the human diet and promotes health, as a multitude of plant foods offer different minerals and nutrient profiles rather than relying on a few simple carbohydrate grain foods to support a population. By preserving and supporting the active use and study of ethnobotanically useful plants, especially in indigenous groups, not only can centuries old ways remain intact, but the multitude of plant uses supported by those knowledge bases can be a part of the effort to achieve cultural biodiversity.
This site aims to create a space for uniquely Appalachian ethnobotanical information and resources. Since its inception at the turn of the century, ethnobotany has largely been concerned with categorizing and listing useful plants in far away lands. Appalachia is one of the most biodiverse areas to the United States, due to its biogeography, plant and human migration patterns, and abundance of microhabitats. It also boasts a huge selection of edible and medicinal wild plants, as well as a temperate climate suited to growing a wide variety of crops.
The region also boasts a large body of medicinal plants knowledge that preserves a mix of European, African, and Native American plants and healing modalities. Bioregional ethnobotany, or a plant use system and body of knowledge firmly grounded in a certain ecosystem or region, provides local solutions for the struggles that are being felt throughout the world through supporting the protection, growth, and use of plants from one’s immediate surroundings. As climate change and careless extractive practices such as mountain top removal continue to alter the surface of our region, learning about the plants and their uses in our biome is the first step towards fostering a feeling of value and identity with plants that, like ginseng or sassafras, are part of the Appalachian identity and the medical herbal lexicon which still provide medical and economic relevance today.
Works Cited
1. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College. "Biodiversity and Food Production." Biodiversity and Food Production. The Center for Health and the Global Environment, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
2. Turner, Nancy Jean, and Patrick von Aderkas. "Sustained By First Nations: European Newcomers' Use Of Indigenous Plant Foods In Temperate North America." Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 81.4 (2012): 295-315. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
3. Penafiel, Daniela, et al. "A Systematic Review On The Contributions Of Edible Plant And Animal Biodiversity To Human Diets." Ecohealth 8.3 (2011): 381-399. Environment Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
4. Pardo-de-Santayana, Manuel, and Manuel J Macía. "Biodiversity: The Benefits Of Traditional Knowledge." Nature 518.7540 (2015): 487-488. MEDLINE. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
5. Loucks, C., D. Olson, E. Dinerstein, A. Weakley, R. Noss, J. Stritholt, and K. Wolfe. "Appalachian Blue Ridge Forests." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
