Despite its central importance to tropical forest conservation, the understanding of patterns in traditional resource use still is incipient. To address this deficiency, we compared known palm uses among two indigenous (Yawanawá and Kaxinawá) and two folk (rubber tapper and ribeirinho) communities in Southwestern Amazonia (Acre, Brazil). We conducted one-hundred-and -forty semi-structured “checklist” interviews about palm uses with male and female adults in the four communities. The knowledge of each community about the uses of the 17 palm species common to all communities was compared by testing for significant differences in the mean number of uses cited per informant and by calculating the Jaccard similarity index of known uses of palm species among the four communities. The following three hypotheses were confirmed: 1) the use of palms differs according to the cultural preferences of each community; 2) indigenous communities know significantly more about palm uses than folk communities; and 3) part of the indigenous knowledge was acquired through contact with Amazonian folk communities.

This article contributes a brief review of the ethnobotany and ontogeny of Heteropsis spp. (Araceae), reports the distribution and density of Heteropsis spp. in a tropical lowland rainforest in southern Venezuela, and explores the environmental variables that correlate best with the observed Heteropsis densities. Heteropsis occurred on 26% of the 4091 trees (≥10 cm DBH) inventoried in 67 plots (of 0.1 hectare, each). Mean Heteropsis colonization densities differed significantly between 11 local forest types and ranged from 0% (in seasonally deeply flooded forest and in semideciduous hill forest) to 74% (in sporadically flooded forest near small streams). Across forest types, Heteropsis occurred on a significantly greater number of trees between 20 and 50 cm DBH than expected for an even distribution over all size classes. Of the 90 most common potential host species in the plots, the giant herb Phenakospermum guyannense (L. C. Rich.) Endl. was the only one consistently and significantly avoided by Heteropsis, and no host species was significantly preferred across all forest types. Heteropsis densities were positively correlated with the depth of the fine root mat and the diversity of big lianas. They were negatively correlated with the concentration of exchangeable potassium, flooding depth, and the density of small lianas. We conclude that Heteropsis shows clear habitat preferences that reflect site differences in soil fertility, flooding regime and forest structure and could not be explained by the distribution of preferred or avoided host tree sizes or species.

The leaves and bark of fifteen species of Mexican Anacardiaceae were analyzed by paper and thin layer chromatography for the presence of toxic phenols such as catechols, resorcinols and biflavonoids. Based on the results of this and previous studies, toxic phenols are present in fifty-two species belonging to twenty-seven genera in Anacardiaceae. The majority of species contain toxic catechols, a few species contain toxic resorcinols and sixteen species contain biflavonoids. Genera from the basal group in Anacardiaceae, including Spondias and allied genera lack biflavonoids. Biflavonoids are present in the rest of the genera of Anacardiaceae.

Since the end of the Vietnam War, thousands of Laotian Hmong have immigrated to the United States, many ultimately resettling in the Central Valley of California. In the inner-city environment of Sacramento, the Hmong continue their agrarian traditions by creating urban gardens where they grow traditional plants. In this study, we document 59 Hmong garden species grown at a site in South Sacramento. Most of these species are documented in the Southeast Asian botanical literature as either food or medicinal plants. Uses of the plants are discussed as is the importance of urban gardens in maintaining Hmong cultural identity and practices.

Greater than two-fold differences were observed between the lowest and highest means for stolon number and length characteristics. A 60% difference in total length was observed between the longest stolon of accessions. There was a 42% difference between the accessions with the fastest and slowest growing stolons. Accession with the longest and shortest internode differed by 28%. Small differences were observed for leaf length and width. Seed set under selfing was less than 7% indicating high self-incompatibility. Open-pollinated seed set ranged from 37% to 87%. Coefficients of variation for the various characteristics measured indicate that the Chinese accessions should provide more variation for genetic improvement in this species. Data showed that measuring total stolon length at five weeks after transplanting was adequate for evaluating all of the stolon length and number characteristics in this study. The Chinese accession appear to be a valuable source of new germplasm for this species.

As upland farmers in Southeast Asia change from shifting cultivation to permanent agriculture and lose access to swidden-fallow forests and their resources, they are introducing economically important forest and fallow plants into their house gardens. We describe this process in Daka, a village of Hani ethnicity in Yunnan Province, China. Daka smallholders collect both seeds and seedlings from fallow forests and transfer the plants to house gardens, initiating the transformation of wild species to a cultivated or semi-domesticated one. Two kinds of species are commonly transferred from swidden fallows to house gardens. Some are particularly rare, others are plants in great demand. Between 1998 and 2000 Daka households earned an average of US$68.20 annually from the products of fallow forests. We also found that villagers harvest and use 76 plant species from fallow forests and 126 species from house gardens. Twenty-two species found in house gardens that had been transferred from fallow forests. Households vary widely in the frequency with which they engage in this pattern. We believe that local knowledge of these practices is a potentially important resource in the development of other areas of smallholder farming.

During the 17th century, Finnmark suffered the worst witch trials on record in Norway; at least 137 persons were tried, and about two-thirds were executed. A late 17th century manuscript by district govenor H. H. Lilienskiold provides details of 83 trials based on contemporaneous sources. More than half of these provide evidence of a potentially important role of ergotism in triggering persecutions. In 42 trials, it is explicitly stated that witchcraft was “learned” by consuming it, usually in the form of bread or other flour products (17 cases), in milk or beer (23 cases), or a combination (two cases). In the cases involving milk, several witches testifed that some kind of black, grain-like objects were found in the drink. Medical symptoms compatible with ergotism were recorded in numerous trials, including gangrene, convulsions, and hallucinations; the latter often explicitly stated to occur after consumption of foodstuffs or drink. The majority of the convicted witches were females of Norwegian ethnic origin, living in coastal communities where imported flour formed part of the diet. The few, largely self-supporting Sámi affected by the witchcraft trials were mainly men, convicted, for example, carrying out traditional shamanic rituals. All flour available in Finnmark during the late 17th century was imported. Rye (Secale cereale), which is especially prone to ergot infection, formed a major part of the imported grain.