Ethnobotanical Survey of Flora and Fauna Species in Kainji Lake National Park New-Bussa Local Government Area, Niger State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to identify the Ethnobotanical uses of flora and fauna species in Kainji Lake National Park New-Bussa Local Government Area, Niger State, Nigeria. The study objectives were to document knowledge and generate data on identification and uses of Plant species and animal species in Borgu and Zugurma sector of the park. Ethnobotanical surveys based on interviews from the park ranges, plant taxonomist and zoologist staff of the park and Botanical survey was carried out based on sample plots. A stratified random sampling was used to select sample sites within the two sector of the Park, based on flora and fauna sub-classification. A total Ten (10) plots of 100m x 100m strips were demarcated within the two sectors. In each plot a total of four (4) 20m x 20m sub-plots were randomly selected for identification of Flora and Fauna resources in both the two sector of the park. Results from Flora resources shows a total of 45 plants species belonging to 21 families were selected.in both the two sector. Family- Leguminosae and Combretaceace were the dominant family in terms of number of species represented. The species are multipurpose and are exploited to satisfy different subsistence needs. Bark and Leaf are the most commonly used Flora parts for medicinal in KLNP. Results from Fauna resources shows that Family-Bovidea and Felidae are the most dominate in the Mammal species, Family-Pythonidea is dominate in Reptile species, Birth has different family and species. Alestidae and Cyprinidae are the dominates in fish found in KLNP while Family-Mochokidae and Bagridae are the most dominates in the fresh-water fish species in Kainji Lake (Northern Nigeria).

MEDICINAL PLANTS OF SELECTED WETLANDS IN PANNISSERY AREA, THRISSUR DISTRICT, KERALA–A PRELIMINARY SURVEY

Objective: Wetlands are vital ecosystem which provides livelihoods for millions of people who live within around them. Man depends on wetlands for most of his needs from time immemorial. The present study is a preliminary step for the identification of valuable medicinal plants in the wetlands of Pannissery area. This attempt was made since it is equally important to understand the traditional medicines and beliefs as well as to have scientific awareness for protection and conservation of the sewetlands. Methods: Frequent field visits were carried out from September 2018 to January 2019 to collect different Wetland medicinal plants in Pannissery area, Kandanassery Panchayath, Thrissur district. Plants were collected carefully with hand and identified by using the standard literature such as Flora of the Presidency of Madras by J. S. Gamble, 1915-1936. The collected plants were authenticated by a plant Taxonomist Dr. Udayan. P. S. from the Post Graduate and Research Department of Botany, Sree Krishna College, Guruvayur. Results: A slight alteration of the wetland may result in the disappearance or the extinction of these plants [1]. Conclusion: This will ultimately result in large scale economic loss in terms of the medicinal product. Apart from the loss of plants, this will also result in the loss of local knowledge on the medicinal properties of these plants which very often can't be retrieved. An attempt has been made to document some of the little known medicinal properties of wetland plants used by local community.

E. Lucy Braun

Emma Lucy Braun (b. 1889–d. 1971) was one of the more influential plant ecologists of the 20th century. She is known primarily for her seminal book, Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America, first published in 1950 with later facsimile reprintings. Although this book tends to overshadow her other accomplishments, those contributions to the fields of plant ecology and taxonomy are quite notable and considerable in themselves; she was a pioneer in conservation biology, she published numerous papers in prominent ecological journals (including Ecology, Ecological Monographs, and Botanical Review), and she was a distinguished plant taxonomist (author of The Woody Plants of Ohio). She actively contributed to and was a member of several notable scientific and ecological societies, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Ecological Society of America, the Botanical Society of America, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, and the British Ecological Society. The broad biogeographic range of her interests contrasts with the provinciality of her academic pedigree; she was educated, and then a long-standing faculty member, at the University of Cincinnati, her city of birth. Beginning with the degrees of B.A. (1910?), M.A. (1912), and Ph.D. (1914). She was appointed assistant and instructor of botany in 1914 and rose through the ranks to full professor of botany. She retired as professor emerita in 1948, although her retirement years were remarkably productive with the publication of three books and several noteworthy papers. In 1950, she became the first woman president of the Ecological Society of America and the only woman to hold that office until 1986. With graduate research experience in both geology (M.A.) and botany (Ph.D.), she was one of the earlier in the field to not only embrace the multidisciplinary nature of ecology, but also use it to advance the field. In addition to her earned degrees, she was awarded an honorary D.Sc. from the University of Cincinnati in 1964.

Ethnomedicinal Uses of Fabaceae Species for Respiratory Infections and Related Symptoms in the Limpopo Province, South Africa -

Purpose: The present study investigated utilisation of Fabaceae species as herbal medicines for respiratory infections and related symptoms in the Limpopo Province, South Africa.Methods: Information on Fabaceae species used as herbal medicines against respiratory infections was gathered using semi-structured questionnaires during face-to-face interviews with 240 Pedi speaking traditional healers (THs) from May to July 2017. Voucher specimens of utilized plant species were collected and their identities and scientific names authenticated by a plant taxonomist at the University of Limpopo’s Larry Leach Herbarium.Results: Twenty-five plant species belonging to 16 genera were used by THs in treating 13 respiratory infections. Majority of the species (64.0%, n=16) were multi-used while 36.0% (n=9) treated a single condition each. Plants which showed the highest fidelity level (FL) scores included Acacia senegal (chronic cough=FL; 32.8, chest pain=FL; 32.8, tuberculosis=FL; 32.8), Dichrostachys cinerea (tuberculosis= FL; 100) and Acacia erioloba (pneumonia=FL; 92.7). These species were also characterized by high use value (UV) indices of 2.5, 0.82 and 0.58, respectively.Conclusion: Some of the plants recorded in this study are reported in literature to have potent biological activities against diverse pathogens which cause respiratory infections and perceived symptoms.

Rehabilitating Botany in the Postwar Moment: National Promise and the Encyclopedism of Eduardo Quisumbing’s Medicinal Plants of the Philippines (1951)

In 1951, plant taxonomist Eduardo Quisumbing published Medicinal Plants of the Philippines, a 1,234–page volume on the palliative and curative applications of Philippine flora. Considered the standard contemporary reference on medical botany, Quisumbing’s work has informed generations of human scientists, botanists, and chemists from the archipelago. This paper, however, poses the question: What did Quisumbing, a trained orchidist, have to do with such a wide-ranging postwar publication—one quite distant from his scientific specialization—that would be (mistakenly) remembered as his magnum opus? Through a close reading of the text informed by the work’s intertextuality and Quisumbing’s personal archive, I argue that Medicinal Plants of the Philippines captures a type of encyclopedism undertaken in order to recuperate Manila’s Bureau of Science following World War ii. This encyclopedism speaks to the book’s curious character: strictly speaking, it is neither a pharmacopoeia nor a flora. Instead, it is a compendium of principally invasive species and their medicinal uses around the world that draws from over 630 academic publications. Caught within the tangle of postwar national reconstruction efforts, Quisumbing’s book evidences a considerable investment in intellectual knowledge production to assert the country’s newfound independence while shoring up public support for Philippine botanic and scientific research.