Medicinal Plant Diversity of Western Mediterrenean Region in Turkey

Abstract

The present study has been carried out in the western part of the Mediterranean region of Turkey. A field survey of the study area was carried out between 2004 and 2007 to document the medicinal plants and their usage. Ethnobotanical information of medicinal plants was collected through interviewing local informants (herdsmen, men and women working in the field, village headmen, midwives, and people above the age of 50 years). Semi-structured interviews were carried out to acquire information on traditional plant use, particularly on medicinal plants. As a result, a simplified list was created containing information on scientific names, vernacular names and medicinal usage of 187 plant taxa belonging to 135 genera, and 67 families. The dominant families were Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, and the Rosaceae. It was found that Sideritis sp., Verbascum sp., Origanum sp., Salvia sp. and Hypericum sp. were the most common species. Many of the plants are commonly used for the same purpose in traditional medicine around the Mediterranean area suchlike other regions of Turkey

Keywords

• Ethnomedicinal Plants, Ethnobotany, Western Mediterranean Region, Turkey