Honoring Nature S Healers Bioregional Ethnobotanical Study Of Wild Medicinal Plants Of Kathleen Fl In The Greater Green Swamp

This is a local study of wild medicinal plants in the Greater Green Swamp, what is changing, and why. It looks at what has happened to drained and logged swampland, where soil at the top of Bone Valley, recovering from an extended hydroperiod has become home to a number of pan tropical medicinal plants. Eight of the common wild medicinal plants in Kathleen, FL are looked at from a point of view of their value in history, how these plants are treated in the United States, and how they are used all around the world.

This book offers a broad summary of the wild plants and their usage, as well as the growing interest in ethnopharmacology research. The book comprises of important issues such as diversity of wild plants with emphasis on medicinal and food plants, threats to wild plants and traditional ethnobotanical knowledge, their uses in skin diseases, snake-bites, in cosmeceuticals, etc. Moreover, the ethnopharmacological relevance of wild plants in Latin America has been discussed. The chapters include a wide range of case studies, giving updated evidence on the importance of their wild plant resources from different countries including Peru, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Brazil. In addition, some specific species are used to explain their potential properties, as well as the dangers of their use without guidance of trained natural healers. The book discusses traditional usage and properties of wild plants and is entirely different from other related publications and useful for the researchers working in the areas of conservation biology, botany, ethnobiology, ethnopharmacology, policymakers, etc.

With the rise of urban living and the digital age, many North American healers are recognizing that traditional medicinal knowledge must be recorded before being lost with its elders. A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle is a historic document, including nearly 200 color photos and maps, in that it is the first in which a native healer has agreed to open his medicine bundle to share in writing his repertoire of herbal medicines and where they are found. Providing information on and photos of medicinal plants and where to harvest them, anthropologist David E. Young and botanist Robert D. Rogers chronicle the life, beliefs, and healing practices of Medicine Man Russell Willier in his native Alberta, Canada. Despite being criticized for sharing his knowledge, Willier later found support in other healers as they began to realize the danger that much of their traditional practices could die out with them. With Young and Rogers, Willier offers his practices here for future generations. At once a study and a guide, A Cree Healer and His Medicine Bundle touches on how indigenous healing practices can be used to complement mainstream medicine, improve the treatment of chronic diseases, and lower the cost of healthcare. The authors discuss how mining, agriculture, and forestry are threatening the continued existence of valuable wild medicinal plants and the role of alternative healers in a modern health care system. Sure to be of interest to ethnobotanists, medicine hunters, naturopaths, complementary and alternative health practitioners, ethnologists, anthropologists, and academics, this book will also find an audience with those interested in indigenous cultures and traditions.

Kindscher documents the medicinal use of 203 native prairie plants by the Plains Indians. He also adds information on recent pharmacological findings to further illuminate the medicinal nature of these plants. He uses Indian, common, and scientific names and describes Anglo folk uses, medicinal uses, scientific research, and cultivation.

In the mysterious and pristine forests of the tropics, a wealth of ethnobotanical panaceas and shamanic knowledge promises cures for everything from cancer and AIDS to the common cold. To access such miracles, we need only to discover and protect these medicinal treasures before they succumb to the corrosive forces of the modern world. A compelling biocultural story, certainly, and a popular perspective on the lands and peoples of equatorial latitudes—but true? Only in part. In The Ethnobotany of Eden, geographer Robert A. Voeks unravels the long lianas of history and occasional strands of truth that gave rise to this irresistible jungle medicine narrative. By exploring the interconnected worlds of anthropology, botany, and geography, Voeks shows that well-intentioned scientists and environmentalists originally crafted the jungle narrative with the primary goal of saving the world’s tropical rainforests from destruction. It was a strategy deployed to address a pressing environmental problem, one that appeared at a propitious point in history just as the Western world was taking a more globalized view of environmental issues. And yet, although supported by science and its practitioners, the story was also underpinned by a persuasive mix of myth, sentimentality, and nostalgia for a long-lost tropical Eden. Resurrecting the fascinating history of plant prospecting in the tropics, from the colonial era to the present day, The Ethnobotany of Eden rewrites with modern science the degradation narrative we’ve built up around tropical forests, revealing the entangled origins of our fables of forest cures.

Plants have cultural histories, as their applications change over time and with place. Some plant species have affected human cultures in profound ways, such as the stimulants tea and coffee from the Old World, or coca and quinine from South America. Even though medicinal plants have always attracted considerable attention, there is surprisingly little research on the interface of ethnobotany and medical anthropology. This volume, which brings together (ethno-)botanists, medical anthropologists and a clinician, makes an important contribution towards filling this gap. It emphasises that plant knowledge arises situationally as an intrinsic part of social relationships, that herbs need to be enticed if not seduced by the healers who work with them, that herbal remedies are cultural artefacts, and that bioprospecting and medicinal plant discovery can be viewed as the epitome of a long history of borrowing, stealing and exchanging plants.

Ethnopharmacology and Biodiversity of Medicinal Plants provides a multitude of contemporary views on the diversity of medicinal plants, discussing both their traditional uses and therapeutic claims. This book emphasizes the importance of cataloging ethnomedical information as well as examining and preserving the diversity of traditional medicines. It also discusses the challenges present with limited access to modern medicine and the ways in which research can be conducted to enhance these modern practices. The book also explores the conservation procedures for endangered plant species and discusses their relevance to ethnopharmacology. Each chapter of this book relays the research of experts in the field who conducted research in diverse landscapes of India, providing a detailed account of the basic and applied approaches of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology. The book reviews multiple processes pertaining to medicinal plants, such as collecting the traditional therapeutic values and validation methods. It also explores developments in the field such as the diversity and medicinal potential of unexplored plant species and applications in drug formulation to fight against anti-microbial resistance (AMR).

Ethnopharmacology is one of the world’s fastest-growing scientific disciplines encompassing a diverse range of subjects. It links natural sciences research on medicinal, aromatic and toxic plants with socio-cultural studies and has often been associated with the development of new drugs. The Editors of Ethnopharmacology have assembled an international team of renowned contributors to provide a critical synthesis of the substantial body of new knowledge and evidence on the subject that has emerged over the past decade. Divided into three parts, the book begins with an overview of the subject including a brief history, ethnopharmacological methods, the role of intellectual property protection, key analytical approaches, the role of ethnopharmacology in primary/secondary education and links to biodiversity and ecological research. Part two looks at ethnopharmacological contributions to modern therapeutics across a range of conditions including CNS disorders, cancer, bone and joint health and parasitic diseases. The final part is devoted to regional perspectives covering all continents, providing a state-of-the –art assessment of the status of ethnopharmacological research globally. A comprehensive, critical synthesis of the latest developments in ethnopharmacology. Includes a section devoted to ethnopharmacological contributions to modern therapeutics across a range of conditions. Contributions are from leading international experts in the field. This timely book will prove invaluable for researchers and students across a range of subjects including ethnopharmacology, ethnobotany, medicinal plant research and natural products research. Ethnopharmacology- A Reader is part of the ULLA Series in Pharmaceutical Sciences www.ullapharmsci.org