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The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found a general decline in the consumption and gathering of wild edible 31 plants, but some studies also observe a localized increase. Using information from interviews (n = 1133) in seven 32 sites in the Iberian Peninsula and one in the Balearic Islands, we 1) identify current trends in the consumption and 33 gathering of wild edible plants (n = 56 plant-uses) and 2) analyze how cultural ecosystem services relate to such 34 trends. Our data show a generalized decrease in the consumption and gathering of wild edible plants, although 35 the trend changes significantly across plant-uses. Specifically, we found that -despite the overall decreasing 36 trend-uses of wild edible plants that simultaneously relate to foods with high cultural appreciation and the 37 recreational function of gathering remain popular. Our results signal that cultural services and values associated 38 to the gathering and consumption of some wild edible plants are important factors explaining divergent trends 39 across plant species. This finding reinforces the notion that cultural ecosystem services are deeply intertwined 40 with other categories of services which can combine in complex, non-linear ways producing a variety of 41 interdependent benefits. 42

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An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in the massif of Montseny (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula), a mountainous UNESCO's biosphere reserve that summarizes the main European (from Mediterranean to subalpine) climates and landscapes. This article presents the results concerning the use of non-crop vascular food plants, numbering 132. Edible plants (75), as well as those involved in drink preparation (84) are considered. The study shows the different ways of preparation, preservation and consumption of plants. Most food plants also have uses as folk medicines in the region considered, and the relationships between foods and medicines are discussed. The presence and usage of wild relatives of cultivated plants in the territory studied are also commented upon.

Sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) of nuclear ribosomal DNA were analysed for 44 Artemisia species (46 populations) representing all the five classical subgenera and the geographical range of the genus, 11 species from 10 genera closely related to Artemisia, and six outgroup species from five other genera of the Anthemideae. The results definitely support the monophyly of the genus Artemisia in its broadest sense (including some Hippolytia, Kaschgaria). Our results, correlated to other data, such as pollen morphology, allow us to conclude that the subtribe Artemisiinae as currently defined is a very heterogeneous group. Affinities of the largest genus of the subtribe and tribe, Artemisia, and of other genera of the subtribe to some genera from other subtribes of the Anthemideae strongly suggest that subtribe Artemisiinae needs a deep revision and redefinition. Phylogenetic utility of region trnL-F of the plastid DNA in the genus Artemisia and allies was also evaluated; sequences of the trnL-F region in Artemisia do not provide phylogenetic information.

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