Folkbotanical classification: morphological, ecological and utilitarian characterization of plants in the Napf region, Switzerland
1
Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural
Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33,
A-1180 Vienna, Austria
2 Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, Zürich, CH-8008, Switzerland
2 Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, Zürich, CH-8008, Switzerland
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2015, 11:13
doi:10.1186/1746-4269-11-13
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/11/1/13
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/11/1/13
| Received: | 22 May 2014 |
| Accepted: | 31 December 2014 |
| Published: | 14 March 2015 |
© 2015 Poncet et al.; licensee BioMed Central.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Abstract
Background
Discussions surrounding ethnobiological classification have been broad and diverse.
One of the recurring questions is whether classification is mainly based on the “inherent
structure of biological reality” or on cultural, especially utilitarian needs. So
far, studies about ethnobotanical classification have mainly been done in indigenous
societies. Comparable data from industrialized countries are scarce. In this paper,
folkbotanical classification data from the Napf region in central Switzerland is analysed
and cross-culturally compared.
Methods
Structured and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 60 adults and children
chosen by random sampling. Descriptive statistics, t-tests and cultural domain analysis
were used to analyze the data.
Results
Close to 500 folk taxa have been documented during field work. As life-form taxa appeared
tree, bush, grass, herb, flower, and mushroom. Intermediate taxa mentioned regularly
were sub-categories of the life form tree and bush, i.e. conifer, deciduous tree,
fruit tree, stone fruits, pomaceous fruits, and berry bush. The rank of the folk generic
was by far the largest with 316 taxa (85.4% monotypical). The specific rank contained
145 taxa, the varietal 14 taxa. The 475 generic, specific and varietal folk taxa could
be assigned to 298 wild growing plant species, which make up 28.13% of the local flora,
and to 213 cultivated plant species, subspecies and cultivars.
Morphology, mainly life-form, fruits, leaves, and flowers, was the most important
criterion for classifying plants. Other important criteria were their use (mainly
edibility) and habitat (mainly meadow, forest and garden). The three criteria emerged
spontaneously out of open questioning.
Conclusion
The classification system of the Napf region is comparable to classification systems
of indigenous societies, both in its shallow hierarchical structure and in the amount
of recognized taxa.
The classification of plants was mainly guided by morphology, habitat and use. The
three aspects seem to be mutually linked for certain plant groups, which results in
always the same groups, independent from the different sorting criteria. Sensory perception
allows for a broader explanation of the known coincidence of morphology and use groups.
