An Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used in Hizan District (Bitlis-Turkey)

: Medicinal plant use culture is very rich in East Anatolia. Hizan district is one of the best examples of this. Hizan has a very hilly topography. In the past, people is living in Hizan developed alternative medicines to treat their illnesses because of geographical structure and harsh winter conditions. This study was conducted in Hizan (Bitlis) district and it was the first investigation of the knowledge of tra-ditional medicinal plants used in Bitlis Province. This research aims to scientifically identify the medicinal plants used by local people and record the culture of traditional medicinal plants use of local people living in Hizan. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants with ethnobotanical knowled-ge and experience in 2018 and 2019 and the collected samples were prepared according to herbarium techniques. Consequently 71 taxa belonging to 29 families used for the treatment of 35 different diseases were identified. The traditional medical use of some taxa was specific to Hizan. The results revealed that the taxonomic family with the greatest number of utilized plants was Asteraceae. These are followed by Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, Malvaceae, Polygonaceae and Apiaceae.


Introduction
The fossil records show that the human use of plants as medicines may be traced back at least 60 000 years (Solecki, 1975). According to some researchers (Miara et al., 2019), the great majority of developing countries (80%) use medicinal plants for health purposes. Documentation of ethnobotanical information is important for the conservation and use of biological resources (Muthu et al., 2006).
Medicinal plants in rural areas of developing countries have been used as the primary source of medicine in the treatment of human diseases (Palombo, 2009;Sönmez et al., 2019 ).
Many ancient civilizations had flourished in Turkey, and thus many food and medicinal plant domestication began in this area (Altundağ and Öztürk, 2011). The Anatolian people have been used plants for medicinal purposes by Paleolithic period (50 000 BC). The plant specimens that were found in the Neanderthal tombs in Şanidar cave in the Zagros Mountains of northwestern Iraq, which is not far from Hizan (our research area), are solid proofs of this assumption (Baytop, 1999). Anatolia is the meeting place of three phytogeographical regions (Euro-Siberian, Mediterranean and lrano-Turanian). Thus, it has a very rich flora (Özhatay et al., 2005).
There are some ethnobotanical studies done in Eastern Anatolia, but they are inadequate (Akan et al., 2008). In the past, due to harsh winter conditions and deficiency, people who had difficulty accessing health facilities started looking for alternative medicines for treatment in Bitlis province. Thus, the use of the culture of the traditional medicinal plants has enriched. (Tabata et al., 1994). One of the best examples of this condition is Hizan district.
This study was carried out to scientifically identify the medicinal plants used by local people living in Hizan district, to record this cultural heritage and to convey it to future generations.

The study area
Hizan is located in Eastern Anatolia Region. It is located at 38°13′ N, 42°25′ E coordinates and is 1700 meter above average sea level. Hizan is neighbour to Bahçesaray and Gevaş (Van) in the east, Pervari and Şirvan (Siirt) in the south and Tatvan (Bitlis) in northwest ( Figure 1). Hizan has been a center of civilization since the Hittites. According to historical records, human settlements are known to be present there from the 2000s BC. Human settlements started with the Hittites and continued under Persian, Roman, Byzantine and Arab rule. It was ruled by Seljuks in the 11th century and by Ottomans period in the 16th century (Çiçek, 2016).

Interviews with healer people
In 2018 and 2019, interviews were held face-to-face with participants who have ethnobotanical knowledge and experience ( Figure 2). The view was obtained from 68 people, including 39 men and 29 women and information was obtained recorded. The average age of the participants is over 40. The job of these people living in the villages are generally farming.
The following questions were asked to the participants and the answers were recorded.
-What is the domestic names of the plant used? -For what kind of diseases are the plants used? -Which part of the plant is used? -How you prepare a plant for use? -How is used the herbal medicine?

Collecting and identification of medicinal plants
Medicinally used plant samples were collected from their natural habitats with the participants. The collected plant samples were collected according to the information provided by the healers.
The collected samples were prepared according to herbarium techniques and herbarium samples were stored in the Biology Department of Faculty of Sciences, Bitlis Eren University.
Identification of plant taxa was performed by using Flora of Turkey. (Davis, 1965(Davis, -1985Davis et al., 1988;Güner et al., 2000). The scientific names of the plant taxa were confirmed by using (The Plant List, 2013) and The taxonomic categories (family, species etc.) of the identified samples were arranged in alphabetical order (Table 1).
Herbal remedies prepared by the participants were arranged according to the diseases categories shown above.

Taxonomic identification of plants
The scientific name and voucher number, family name, local names, plant parts used of plants, preparation methods, utilization and uses of medicinal plants used in Hizan are given in Table 1. As a result of the study, 71 taxa relating to 29 families that are used 735ort he treatment of 35 different diseases were detected.
The results revealed that the taxonomic family with the greatest number of utilized plants was Asteraceae (10 species). This is followed closely by Rosaceae, (9 species), and then comes Lamiaceae (5 species), Malvaceae, Polygonaceae and Apiaceae (4 species each), Boraginaceae and Plantaginaceae (3 each). The remaining plant families were represented by only one or two taxa.
The medical use of 8 taxa listed in Table 1  Scutellaria orientalis subsp. porphyrostegia J.R.Edm. was detected to be endemic plant used for medicinal purpose from Hizan. When compared withsome other studies conducted in the Eastern Anatolia region (Tabata et al., 1994;Altundağ and Öztürk, 2011;Kaval et al., 2014;Mükemre et al., 2015, Polat, 2019, it is seen that the local names of some commonly used plants are almost the same.  (Table 1).
Some local names of the plants are characterized by the disease treated. For instance;" Giyayė bavesirė " is used for Teucrium chamaedrys L. And Scutellaria orientalis subsp. porphyrostegia J.R.Edm. "Giya" means herb in Kurdish and "bavesir" is the name of the hemorrhoid disease.
Rheum ribes L. is one of the most collected plants from natural areas in East Anatolia. Fresh shoots of this plant are consumed as food in Eastern Anatolia and they are used for the treatment of diabetes (Tabata et al.,1994;Altundağ and Öztürk, 2011;Mükemre et al., 2015). Pistacia khinjuk Stocks has antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, and wound healing properties (Al-Alfy et al., 2019). Pistacia khinjuk widely used both for the treatment of diseases and as nutrient in Hizan. Also a latex ointment made from the trunk of the tree is also applied to inflamed wounds. Pistacia khinjuk Stocks was used for stomachache in the study conducted in Hakkâri province (Kaval et al., 2014). P. khinjuk has been used as an indigestion, tonic, toothache and astringent folk medicine. In addition, fruits of it used edible wild fruits (Pirbalouti and Aghaee 2011). The use of malva neglecta Wallr. is common in all regions of Turkey. It is commonly consumed as food.
And it is commonly used as a folk medicine in a number of conditions. In Hizan it is widely used for the treatment of stomachache as a pain reliever. Many species of Teucrium are known for their utilization in traditional folk medicine. They are claimed to exhibit interesting biological properties such as; hypoglycaemic, hypolipidemic, antioxidant, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, antitumor and anti bacterial (Bruno et al., 2004).
Onopordum carduchorum Bornm. & Beauverd is used forthe treatment of hemorrhoids in Hizan. Ethnobotanical use of this plant for the same disease is found in Savur district (Mardin). (Arasan and Kaya, 2015).
The study called "Effects of Paronychia kurdica Boiss. on teat and udder papillomatosis in cows" was investigated and successful results were obtained (Apaydin et al., 2010). Ethnobotanical record of Rumex angustifolius subsp. macranthus (Boiss.) Rech.f. plants were not found.

Conclusion
Plants, which are of great importance for the continuity of life, are among the most im-portant natural resources of a country.
Plant-human relationship is as old as human history. Almost all civilizations have used plants as a mean of treatment. The culture of medicinal plant use is very rich in Anatolia. It has hosted many civilizations throughout history. In the past, people who lived in places like Hizan where they had difficulty in accessing health care facilities due to challenging geographical structuresand harsh winter conditions began to look for alternative reme-dies to treat their illnesses. Undoubtedly, the rich plant diversity in the region played an important role in alternative treatments. Ethnobotanical uses are gaining value dayby day. Unfortunately, the value of this knowledge is not known well enough by younger generations. The number of people who have this knowledge is decreasing day by day. Therefore, ethnobotanical knowledge has to be recorded as soon as possible. Ethnobotanical research is important because it contains valuable information that has been acquired by trial and error and has been passed down from generation to generation as a result of a long period of time. With this study, it was aimed to record the plants' use culture of the local people living in Hizan district which has rich plant diversity and plant use accumulation.