Introduction Since the beginning of time, man's relationship with medical treatment has been one of the most important parts of human ecology. Research on the use of wild flora for healing purposes could be used to make conclusions on processes of anthropogenesis and ethnogenesis, especially in some regions of the world. In some Asian and African countries, 80% of the population depends on traditional medicine for primary healthcare. Traditional medicine is often termed "alternative" or "complementary" medicine (WHO, 2008). According to "WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2002-2005", the use of complementary and alternative medicine is also increasing rapidly in developed countries. For example, 48% of Australia's population, 70% of Canada's population, and 42% of the United States' population has used traditional medicine at least one time in their lives. Although the side effects and the costs of conventional medicines have been their major criticisms, longer life expectancy and increased risk of developing chronic, debilitating diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and mental disorders have also contributed to this trend (WHO, 2002). Plants provide a vast array of natural products and have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. Due to the political, economic, and social difficulties that block the proper distribution of modern healthcare in many parts of the world, the World Health Organization has started a substantial program to appraise traditional herbal medicines. This project essentially aims to solve the global healthcare problems by encouraging the use of locally used plants with proven empirical value. Ethnobotanical fieldworks play a key role in this sense as catalyzers of interactions between researchers and the people whose knowledge they document (WHO, 1978; Alcorn, 2003). Hence, two major challenges define contemporary ethnobotanical fieldwork. First, there is the longstanding Abstract: The main objective of this study is to identify and record the folk medicines used in Çamlıdere (Ankara) as well as to contribute to the preservation of this precious lore. For this purpose field trips were organized to Çamlıdere. A total of 79 taxa belonging to 66 genera and 33 families were recorded for the treatment of various disorders. The most represented families were Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Rosaceae, respectively. Respiratory tract diseases were the principal reasons for using folk medicines. Eight new folk medicines were included in the Turkish ethnobotanical repository with this study. Different ethnobotanical usages such as fuel and food were also noted. Our data obtained from the research area showed some uses of plants that were newly introduced to the folk medicinal literature of Turkey. Moreover, "Use value", "Informant consensus factor", and "Cultural importance index" were also calculated to evaluate the data statistically.

The present study was conducted to collect, record, and document local knowledge of medicinal practices in Düzce, a northwestern Anatolian province. To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive ethnobotanical study has been reported from this province. Information was acquired through semistructured interviews and personal conversations using a questionnaire and numerous guided field trips with local knowledgeable people. For quantitative analyses and comparisons, recorded data such as informant consensus factor (F IC ) and use value (UV) were calculated, respectively. As a result of extensive field studies, 122 taxa were determined as folk medicines; 76 of were wild and 46 were cultivated. The identified medicinal plants were mainly from the family Rosaceae, followed by Compositae, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, and Solanaceae, respectively. Among the preparations used, liquid forms such as infusions (30.2%) or decoctions (16.4%) represented the most favored ways to administer medicinal plants. Dermatological disorders had the highest F IC score with a value of 0.75 followed by skeletomuscular (F IC = 0.7466), gastrointestinal (F IC = 0.6666), immunological (F IC = 0.6615), and respiratory (F IC = 0.6292) system disorders, among others. The most prominent medicinal plants were Urtica dioica (UV = 0.4352), Plantago major (UV = 0.3056), Rubus ulmifolius (UV = 0.2279), and Sambucus ebulus (UV = 0.2279). According to the present study, the number of people who recognize and use the wild plants of Düzce, and those of the rest of Anatolia, is steadily decreasing. The ethnobotanical knowledge cannot be passed to the next generation in its entirety if it is not properly recorded. In addition to this gradual loss of knowledge, modern information pollution and contamination via the popular media highlight the urgent need to record this precious knowledge before it is lost.

Objective:In this study, determination and documentation of folk medicines that are being used by indigenous people in Bafra was aimed.Materials and methods:Scientific trips were organised to the region and folk medicines were identified by interviewing individuals which have knowledge of folk medicine. One hundred and fifty-five plant samples were collected during the study. Obtained data were statistically analysed by using four quantitative indices; “informant consensus factor”, “use value”, “relative frequency of citation” and “cultural importance index”.Results:Fifty-three genera and 62 taxa belonging 33 families were recorded to be used in the treatment of different diseases. The usage of five species (Conclusion:Once again, the present investigation has highlighted the gradual reduction in the use of folk medicines, and ethnobotanical knowledge has been falling into oblivion rapidly. Therefore, ethnobotanical inventory surveys should be undertaken throughout Turkey before this important cultural heritage becomes lost.

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Sideritis caesarea H. Duman, Aytaç & Başer of the Lamiaceae is an Anatolian endemic species, and is mainly used as herbal tea and folk medicine. This present study aimed to determine and compare the chemical compositions of the volatile components of S. caesarea specimens collected from different localities in Kayseri province, Turkey: Sariz town (samples A and B), Pınarbaşı-Kaynar (sample C) and Pınarbaşı-Şirvan Mountain (sample D), respectively. Initially, the essential oils of the aerial parts were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed both by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID), gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), simultaneously. Major volatile components of samples A and D were characterized as hexadecanoic acid (19.7 and 20.5%), caryophyllene oxide (6.7 and 20.2%), β-caryophyllene (6.5 and 12.6%), respectively. In sample B, hexadecanoic acid (14.6%), β-caryophyllene (11.5%) and caryophyllene oxide (8.3%) were detected as the major components. Whereas caryophyllene oxide (13.7%), hexadecanoic acid (8.5%) and spathulenol (6.1%) were the main components of the essential oil of sample C. Besides the chemical profiling, in vitro antimicrobial effects of samples were evaluated against a panel of six pathogenic microorganisms. Inhibition zones of the tested samples varied against bacteria with low to moderate activity, where no susceptibility against Candida albicans was observed.