Plant and fungal use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

Abstract

In this study, we documented traditional plant use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi and hypothesized that (i) plant use knowledge in general would be higher in isolated high elevation communities, and that (ii) use of home gardens would be much more restricted to lower elevation settings. Fieldwork was conducted in Khevsureti, Pshavi, and Tusheti. Interviews using semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with 74 participants. In the present study, we encountered 317 plant species belonging to 203 genera of 80 families being used in the research region. Of these, 197 species were exclusively wild-harvested, 73 were grown in homegardens, and 47 were both grown in gardens and sourced in the wild. The ordinations in plant-space and in use-space were significantly fit by elevation of informant community, and community itself. Age and gender did not significantly fit the distribution of informants across either plant-space or use-space, respectively. Number of use-reports was highest across all communities in the food and medicinal use-categories, and informant consensus. Species with especially high use-diversity (UD) tended to be woody species although. Species with high usevalue (UV) were mostly managed/domesticated species from home orchards, gardens, or farms. Plant species, and uses, found in our study, showed clear relations to the wider Eurasian cultural complex. The species number found was, however, far higher than in any published study from either the region or the wiser Mediterranean and Eurasia. The maintenance of home gardens in Georgia serves as socioecological memory. While the great variety of plant species used in the Georgian Caucasus might provide a reservoir for food security climate change is starting to affect both natural floristic diversity and gardens both in the Caucasus as well as continent wide.

Medicinal ethnobotany of wild plants: A cross-cultural comparison around Georgia-Turkey border, The Western Lesser Caucasus

“…have notable importance (11 UR) for heart health in Georgia, where the fruits of these species are eaten fresh, consumed as compote or drunk as tea. Several studies from Georgia [12,16,89] and relevant sources from Azerbaijan and Armenia [89] also mention similar use-reports of fruits, owers or leaves of Crataegus spp. (mainly C. pentagyna and C. monogyna).…”

“…The high regard of local people for the Russian name, "sosna", for Pinus sylvestris might be a re ection of multilingual literature on medicinal knowledge in Georgia. Similary, the leaves of Tussilago farfara has a wide range of uses in respiratory diseases (cough, bronchitis, asthma, lung diseases) in Georgia but in Turkey it is not reported in this research, even though it was widely reported in the literature [12,14,16,17,74,85,86].…”

“…Among the applications, drinking a water infusion of the leaves of Plantago major is commonly known for treating stomachache in Georgia. The use of Plantago major for stomach related disorders was also reported in both countries [12,16,19,69,77,68,79]. Moreover, fresh resin of Picea orientalis is found to be commonly used as chewing gum or swallowed for stomach ache in Turkey.…”

“…Plantago major leaves speci cally is used for boils either macerated or plastered on skin after warming on stove in the study area. The use of Plantago major for boils and wounds was also frequently cited in the literature [12,16,17,19,20,21,23,25,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74]. On the other hand, macerated resin of Picea orientalis, locally called "pisi", is applied as a plaster for any kind of wound, a widely known application in Turkey, and is also mentioned for wounds and boils in Georgia.…”

“…Recent studies conducted in Georgia (Sakartvelo) reveal a noteworthy ethnobotanical knowledge of people living in various regions [11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. Furthermore, the book "Ethnobotany of the Caucasus" presents detailed information on about culturally salient 130 plant species currently and historically noted in the South Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) [18].…”