The purpose of this work is to present a botanical, cultural and historical portrait of sesame use in Southwest Asia, from earliest time to the present. The crop's domestication and subsequent dispersal are reviewed from the archaeological literature and early texts. The introduction of sesame represents an agricultural innovation in Southwest Asia, since as a ‘tropical’ warm weather crop, sensitive to freezing temperatures, it is successfully grown in the region as a summer crop, by selecting cultivars that mature early. Its seeds are used as food and flavoring. The chief constituent of the seed is its prized oil, 45–60 % by weight that resists oxidative rancidity. It is used as a salad or cooking oil, an ingredient in cosmetics, in the manufacture of soaps, pharmaceuticals, and lubricants, and was formerly used as a lamp oil. The press cake remaining after the oil is expressed is a nutritious livestock meal. Information about medieval cultivation practices and evidence of its use in early centuries is extracted from historical manuscripts. Examples of sesame in art, myth, proverb and riddle from Southwest Asia provide a comparative, cross-cultural view of its service as a symbol. A survey of culinary, medicinal and linguistic data is presented. The status of its cultivation in the last century is represented by a rare look at practices in Armenia, Syria and Yemen.

The genetic diversity of P. lunatus in the Yucatan Peninsula was assessed on the basis of its morphological and phenological characters. Our results were then discussed in relation to ethnobotanic information obtained about the intraspecific diversity recognized by farmers, their selection criteria, agronomic management, production purpose and percentage of cultivated area. Research was undertaken in one of the cultural subareas of Mesoamerica, the Lowland Maya area, where traditional agriculture has been more persistent and where high diversity of P. lunatus landraces has been recorded. Four of the 13 cultural-geographic zones established for the origin of this culture were included, 160 farmers from 12 localities were interviewed, and 149 seed samples of P. lunatus germplasm were collected and analyzed using six characters. A subset of these samples was grown under ex situ uniform growth conditions and analyzed using 28 characters. Ethnobotanical and morpho-phenological data indicated 30 putative distinct landraces, two wild, and two weedy variants, suggesting gene flow among them. Richness and diversity estimates were greatest, and evenness lowest, where there was: 1) minimal agricultural intensification, 2) wild and weedy populations, and 3) greater persistence of traditional culture. Results underscored the importance of establishing in situ conservation programs in these areas.

Gouania polygama (Jacq.) Urban, Smilax domingensis Willd., and Pimenta dioica Merr., are three species widely used within Cuban ethnobotanical traditions and practices. Pru is a traditional refreshment and medicinal drink produced by their decoction and fermentation with sugar. It is claimed to have hypotensive, stomachic, depurative, and diuretic properties. Pru has long been confined to a number of traditional villages in eastern Cuba, and its origin may be traced back to the ethnobotanical knowledge of French-Haitian people that migrated to Cuba from the end of the 1700s. With the economic crisis of the early 1990s that resulted in the disappearance of industrial soft drinks and in the search for new income sources, pru spread across almost the entire island. This has resulted in the commoditization of the drink and related traditional knowledge, and possibly in increasing pressure on the species' wild populations.

The genus Fagraea comprises a diverse group of woody gentians that are renowned for having hard wood and fragrant, showy flowers. This diverse assemblage of approximately 70 species is distributed from Southeast Asia, Malesia, to the archipelagos of the Pacific Ocean. Fagraea species occupy important niches in forest ecosystems. These fast growing, pioneer species are an important component in natural succession after forest disturbance and provide food and shelter for many other forest species. The plants have played an important role in the lives of humans and have made their way into the legends of Polynesia. Fagraea plants are utilized by the Asian, Australian, Malesian, Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian cultures for timber, weapons, crafts, medicine, and adornment. This paper is a comprehensive survey of the past and present uses of the species by these cultures and identifies the need for future scientific research on Fagraea.

Iriartea deltoidea grows abundantly from Nicaragua to Bolivia. The stem is harvested for construction, furniture making, and handicrafts. The objective of my study was to understand the potential for sustainable harvesting of this palm. Ethnographic fieldwork about market patterns and decision-making among harvesters revealed the nature of harvesting pressures near settled areas. The study also demonstrates methods for assessing social and economic influences on harvesting.

Research on agrobiodiversity points to the importance of home gardens in situ conservation, yet few studies to date explicate the origins and dynamics of plant species diversity. In this paper, we examine inter-household variations in cultivated plant species diversity among house gardens in a traditional peasant community, near Iquitos, Peru. In-depth household interviews (n = 24) and garden/field surveys reveal that home gardens are clearly the site of highest plant diversity in farmers' field portfolios, and that substantial differences exist in garden composition, plant diversity, and the sources of garden planting material across households. Statistical analyses indicate that home garden diversity is related strongly to specific garden characteristics, household socioeconomic features, and access to planting material including seeds, cuttings, and suckers. The role and implications of differential access to planting material in the development and maintenance of crop species diversity is signaled as an important theme for future study in economic botany.

Momordica charantia is grown in tropical areas for its edible fruit as well as other usages. Its original place of domestication is unknown. We collected accessions of both the domesticate and the wild-type from 43 locations in southern China, southeast Nepal, and northern Laos. Analysis of 26 isozyme loci does not clarify the place of domestication, but does strongly suggests that it was a single place because the domesticate from both Nepal and China are fixed for the same allele at all loci, including those five that are polymorphic in wild populations. Principal Components Analysis of morphological descriptors indicates that old cultivars from China are closer to the wild-type than are those from Nepal. Additional accessions, especially the wild-type, from India and Southeast Asia must be analyzed before the question of place of domestication can be fully understood. Seeds generally have higher concentrations of nutrients than the pericarp and there is little difference among accessions, whether wild or domesticated.

We present in this paper data about the popular uses of elder (Sambucus nigra) obtained in two ethnobotanical studies carried out in the districts (comarques) of Pallars Jussà and Pallars Sobirà (Pyrenees) and in the Montseny Massif (Catalan Prelittoral Range), complemented with others from different Catalan regions (also investigated by our group) and compared with those from other Iberian and Mediterranean territories. This bush or small tree belonging to the family Caprifoliaceae is one of the plants that have been most reported and used (for medicinal and other purposes) by the informants, not only in the two regions studied but in all Catalonia and in many Mediterranean areas as well. It is one of the most versatile of plants, being used for food, medicine, crafts and games, as well as for ornamental purposes. In addition, almost every part of the plant, including the bark, roots, leaves, flowers, and fruit, has some uses.

An ethnobotanical study was made of the uses of Atuna racemosa subsp. racemosa (Chrysobalanaceae) in Samoa. The main use is of the cotyledons to extract an anti-inflammatory massage oil and a putty to caulk boats. Minor uses as a medicinal and of the wood are reported and a survey of herbarium material shows that the fruit of Atuna is widely used throughout the Pacific region.

The Philippines is a country that has little low-forest cover left, but it still has many useful forest species. Despite the decline of forest area and the degradation of forests, many of the poorest households, both indigenous and migrant, are pushed into the remaining forest area and depend on forest goods for their subsistence and monetary income. These goods are inevitably nonwood forest products (NWFPs) because timber extraction is now illegal in many parts of the country. The extraction of nonwood forest products, such as resin and rattan, is the only source of a cash income for many households. However, despite the long tradition of NWFP extraction in forest-edge villages, the income that collectors get from these products is still minimal. The impediments to a more equitable and efficient trade in NWFPs are examined, and possible ways of adding value locally to NWFPs are presented, using almaciga (Agathis philippinensis) resin extraction as a case study.