Analysis of historical botanical reports of species of Fabaceae in Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (1648)

Abstract

Historia Naturalis Brasiliae, a reference work for Brazilian natural sciences, contains information on species observed by 17th century naturalists. Among the reports, the botanical family Fabaceae deserves to be highlighted among the taxa that make up the Brazilian flora due to its richness of species and economic interest. In this sense, the objective of the present study was to retrieve information regarding Fabaceae cited in Historia Naturalis Brasiliae by naturalists Piso & Marggraf (1648), with the aim of identifying potential resources of Brazilian flora in conjunction with local knowledge about potential species today and how historical changes have influenced the use of these plant resources. Documentary data were analyzed in the original source and in Pickel’s 2008 review work (Flora do Nordeste do Brasil). The information was organized in a database and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The analysis recovered 49 species belonging to the botanical family Fabaceae in the work. Of this total, 33 species and two genera had their use mentioned in the work, the reports of which were subdivided into four categories, with the highest percentage being for the category of medicinal use (69.23%). Of the plants reported for medicinal use, 18 species and one genus had no records in contemporary works. The analyses presented here contribute to expanding the knowledge of Fabaceae, the recovery of knowledge of plants from past centuries, and the discussion of the influence of factors that cause historical changes in use patterns, thus enriching studies in the field of botany, particularly historical ethnobotany.

The singularity of the medicinal knowledge of the Huni Kuĩ people from the western Brazilian Amazon

“…Desmarchelier & Schaus 2000, , Jernigan 2011, Jernigan 2012, Polesna et al 2011, Schultes et al 1998, Torre et al 2008 Annona ambotay Energy level Caamembeca spectabilis Animal or human bite Other 16 plant species had historical records of their medicinal use (Table 3). C. sylvestris, P. marginatum and T. micrantha are used by the Guaraní people ; Ertela trifolia and Microgramma percussa had their medicinal use in the amazon reported in the XIX century by the naturalist Martius (Breitbach et al 2013), Myroxylon balsamum have several records of its medicinal use from the XVII, XIX and XX centuries (Janni & Bastien 2000, Mackonochie & Heinrich 2019, Martins et al 2019, Silva 2017. The medicinal and spiritual use of Petiveria alliacea in Brazil and Argentina is recorded since the XIX century , Scarpa et al 2016.…”