Dataset, including a photo-guide, of alien plants sold in traditional medicine markets and healthcare outlets in three South African cities, specifically by traders of Indian, West African, East African, and Chinese origin

Abstract

This dataset is a an inventory of 475 alien plant taxa (447 identified to species), including a photo-guide to 96 plants, mostly sold as traditional medicines in three South African cities by traders of South African, West African, East African, Indian and Chinese origin (Williams et al., 2021). The dataset also incorporates species documented in a literature survey of alien plants used for traditional medicines in South Africa. The species inventory is a consolidation of the data from two separate investigations of 106 medicinal plant traders: firstly, a study conducted in 2010/2011 of 77 traders in markets and shops in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban (Williams et al., 2021); and secondly, a study conducted in 2017/2018 of plants sold by 29 (im)migrant traders of West African, East African, and Indian origin in Johannesburg, and of alien species listed in a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) catalogue (Burness, 2019). Accompanying each plant photograph in the photo-guide is the following information: species name; common name(s) provided by the survey respondents; invasive alien plant category; introduction status; voucher specimen number(s); nationality of the medicine traders; and, notes on source localities (e.g. imported or collected in southern Africa). Overall, most of the taxa were from the Asteraceae (12%), Fabaceae (9%) and Poaceae (5%). The species are mostly unlisted (76%) with respect to their legal status in South Africa in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEM:BA), 2004 Alien & Invasive Species (A&IS) regulations. The most frequently recorded species in the various surveys were Glycyrrhiza glabra, Acorus calamus, Angelica sinensis and Zingiber officinale.