Female naturalists and the patterns of suppression of women scientists in history: the example of Maria Sibylla Merian and her contributions about useful plants

Plants of the USA: recordings on native North American useful species by Alexander von Humboldt

BACKGROUND

The German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt conducted an expedition through the American continent, alongside Aimé Bonpland, from 1799 to 1804. Before finally returning to Europe, they decided to take a side trip to the USA between May 20 and July 7, 1804. Humboldt's most detailed account of his time in the USA consists of a manuscript entitled "Plantae des États-Unis" (1804), containing information on useful plants and timber of the country. The aim of this paper is to retrieve, for the first time, ethnobotanical information regarding North American plants and their uses inside this Humboldt's manuscript as well as to highlight the erasure and invisibilization of North American Indigenous knowledge within historical documents and bibliography, mainly during the nineteenth century.

METHODS

"Plantae des États-Unis" (digitized version and its transcription) was carefully analyzed, and information on plant species mentioned in the manuscript (including botanical and vernacular names, traditional uses, and general observations) was retrieved. Traditional uses were correlated with ethnobotanical data from the Native American Ethnobotany Database and encyclopedic literature on North American plants from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as recent pharmacological studies searched in scientific papers.

RESULTS

In the manuscript are mentioned 28 species distributed in 15 botanical families, with Fagaceae (9 Quercus species) being the most representative. All species are USA natives, except for one undetermined species (only the genus was mentioned, Corylus). Four species were directly mentioned as medicinal (Toxicodendron radicans, Liriodendron tulipifera, Actaea racemosa, and Gillenia stipulata), while other four were described as tanning agents (astringent) (Cornus florida, Diospyros virginiana, Quercus rubra, and Quercus velutina). Two species were described as bitter (Xanthorhiza simplicissima and A. racemosa). Nine Quercus species were described, but five were reported as the most useful oaks for cultivation in Europe (Quercus bicolor, Quercus castanea, Quercus virginiana, Quercus michauxii, and Quercus alba); three of them were used for ship construction (Q. virginiana, Q. michauxii, and Q. alba), two as astringent (Q. rubra and Q. stellata), and one had wood of poor quality (Quercus phellos). One species was described as a yellow dye (Hydrastis canadensis), and the other was mentioned as toxic (Aesculus pavia). Ten species did not have any useful applications listed.

CONCLUSIONS

Although "Plantae des États-Unis" is a brief collection of annotations, these data reveal a historical scenario of outstanding plants with social and economic interest in the USA at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The data highlight a clear process of suppression of the traditional knowledge of Native North American Indigenous peoples in past historical records and literature, due to the lack of acknowledgment by white European settlers and American-born explorers. This ethnobotanical inventory may help us understand the relationship between plants and Native North American Indigenous peoples, as well as European naturalists and settlers, and USA-born people in the past, and reflect on the importance of Indigenous traditional knowledge, bioeconomy, sustainable management, and conservation of biodiversity in the present and future.

Current use of medicinal plants for children's diseases among mothers in Southern Romania

There is a limited number of studies focusing on ethnomedical practices in children, particularly in Eastern Europe. Romania has a rich history of using medicinal plants in ethnopediatric care, and our objective was to identify the medicinal plants currently employed in treating childhood illnesses in the southern region of the country. Material and methods Our investigation used structured interviews, focusing on respondent demographics, local names of therapeutically employed herbs, the specific plant part(s) utilized, methods of preparation and administration, and local folk indications of taxa. A total of 326 mothers with children aged 0 to 18, hospitalized in the "Grigore Alexandrescu" Children Emergency Hospital Bucharest and residing in Southern Romania, were enrolled in the study. Use Value Citation Index (UVc), Informant Consensus Factor (Fic), and Fidelity Level (FL) were calculated. Results Twenty-five plants were identified for treating children's diseases in Southern Romania. The majority of informants resided in urban areas, and mothers primarily acquired knowledge from family members and healthcare professionals. The herbs most frequently employed were Mentha spp. (UV = 0.509) for diarrhea, Matricaria spp. (UV = 0.301) for skin infections (Fic = 0.99) and digestive diseases (Fic = 0.98), and Calendula officinalis L. (UV = 0.365) for skin diseases (Fic = 0.99). Less utilized were Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus (L.) Domin in respiratory diseases, Prunus avium (L.) L. stalks in urinary tract ailments, Helianthus annuus L. in ear infections, Allium sativum L. in intestinal parasitosis, Viola tricolor L. in hives, Triticum aestivum L. in dermatitis and Allium ursinum L. as a tonic. In 184 cases herbal treatment was used in conjunction with conventional medications. Education level correlated with the number of employed plants and the variety of treated ailments, while residency (rural vs. urban) did not. Both residency and education influenced plant procurement methods: rural background and, surprisingly, higher education were linked to a preference for harvesting rather than purchasing plants. Conclusion Botanical remedies are still commonly used in the treatment of pediatric diseases in Southern Romania, although the variety of taxa seems reduced compared to the past. Further exploration is essential to unlock the maximum benefits of ethnopediatric practices.

Amazonian useful plants described in the book "Le Pays des Amazones" (1885) of the Brazilian propagandist Baron de Santa-Anna Nery: a historical and ethnobotanical perspective

BACKGROUND

Frederico José de Santa-Anna Nery (1848-1901) was a Brazilian Baron who referred to himself as a "volunteer propagandist" for Brazil in Europe, serving as an immigration agent to publicize the living conditions in the Amazon region, advocating for its development and modernization at the end of the nineteenth century. Santa-Anna Nery's most famous book is "Le Pays des Amazones" (The Lands of the Amazons), first published in 1885, which the author dedicated a chapter to introduce and report on the Amazonian useful plant species and its relationship with humans. The aim of this work is to understand the historical context and ethnobotanical value of the plant species in the Brazilian Amazon at the end of the nineteenth century through an analysis of the book "Le Pays des Amazones" (1885) by Baron de Santa-Anna Nery, as well as to bring to light the historical importance of this very influential propagandist, who has been forgotten nowadays.

METHODS

The original book "Le Pays des Amazones" (1885), as well as the original 3rd edition and its translated version into Portuguese, was carefully analyzed and all information about plants was systematized, with botanical names being updated. Finally, using the scientific name of medicinal plants alone or in combination with their traditional use, a search was carried out in databases in order to indicate current pharmacological studies that provide evidence about the described traditional uses.

RESULTS

A total of 156 plant species were identified in the book, although 132 species had their scientific names updated. These species belong to 45 different families, with Fabaceae and Arecaceae the most represented, and 109 plants are Brazilian native. Considering only the 36 medicinal plants, the main medicinal indications reported were astringent, purgative/laxative, stimulant and tonic, vermifuge, febrifuge, sudorific, emetic, diuretic and antidysenteric. Regarding other useful plants (non-medicinal), 97 species were cited for food, constructions and buildings, spices and condiments, ornaments and objects, carpentry, textile fibers, gums, oils, balms and essences, pigments and tanning, hunting and fishing.

CONCLUSIONS

When the book "Le Pays des Amazones" is analyzed from a timeless perspective, with a particular focus on historical ethnobotany, it is possible to observe the economic, social, and political importance of many useful plants for the Amazon at the end of the nineteenth century and how the relationship between local people, indigenous communities, and immigrants was established with plant biodiversity.

Brazilian Environment and Plants as Seen by Japanese Eyes Two Hundred and Twenty Years Ago

In 2023, the Japanese migration to Brazil completed 115 years. However, the first time Japanese people arrived in Brazil and left a testimony of their experience was about two centuries ago. Their reports were registered in a historical document, handwritten during the Edo period when Japan was adopting a closed-door policy. The episode of their visit to Brazil is only a small part of the odyssey of these four Japanese sailors who departed from Ishinomiya to Tokyo at the end of the 18th century, but unexpectedly traveled around the globe. After a storm, they were adrift for six months until shipwrecking on the Aleutian Islands; from the Russian Aleutian Islands, they crossed the whole of Russia and boarded, in Saint Petersburg, on the first Russian expedition to circumnavigate the world. Their only stop in South America was at Santa Catarina Island, southern Brazil, and this is the first analysis of this episode from an ethnobiological perspective. Their reports described both the forest environment and the plants they observed and included at least 23 taxa of plants, mostly cultivated. These descriptions of plants and the environment are in contrast with other reports from the same period and to the current environment found in Santa Catarina Island, inspiring reflections on the construction of Brazil's image in Japan before the 20th century.