Useful plants referenced by the naturalist Richard Spruce in the 19th century in the state of Pará, Brazil

Abstract

Th e present work sought to study the biocultural collections made by the naturalist Richard Spruce in the 19 th century while in the state of Pará, Brazil. Th e material is largely deposited in the Herbarium and the Museum of Economic Botany at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK. Complementary studies were undertaken in Brazilian institutions to gather more information about the useful plants cited by Spruce for Pará and their respective vernacular names and uses in the 19 th century. Information was also gathered concerning the current uses of the plants by analyzing contemporary ethnobotanical studies. A total of 54 vernacular names of useful plants were recovered, including 51 native species of which 33 are used for construction purposes, 18 as food resources, eight for medicinal purposes, and one species as an ichthyotoxin. It is interesting to note that 80 % of the uses described for these plants in the 19 th century in Pará continue into the present day. It is hoped that the present work will serve to promote future studies involving biocultural collections that document the history of local populations and recognize the importance of traditional knowledge in the Amazon region.

Detecting seminal research contributions to the development of ethnobotany by reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS)

“…etc. It is worth mentioning that traditional knowledge of useful plants in the Amazon continues to thrive today, with 80% of the ethnobotanical uses described in the 19th century still being used in the same way in some regions, like Pará‐Brazil (dos Santos‐Fonseca et al 2019).…”

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

“…Smilax longifolia had its medicinal use in the Amazon and in the Caatinga reported in the XIX and XX centuries (Alencar et al 2010. Vismia guianensis has records of medicinal use in Brazil from the XIX century , Santos-Fonseca et al 2019, while Zanthoxylum rhoifolium has records of historical medicinal use in Argentina and Brazil ). In total, 32 plant species were reported in 295 references for Brazil, while 52 species were reported in 315 references for other countries.…”

Use of snuff and its main constituents for religious purposes in an alternative community with shamanic practices in the south of Brazil

“…Richard Spruce, an English naturalist and important botanist, 1849 made a trip to South America in order to study the Amazonian flora. Many species were described and his research became a reference when dealing with Amazonian plants, their uses and preparation techniques used by the Indians, being widely used in later studies, such as that of Richard Schultes, an American scientist (Dos Santos-Fonseca et al, 2019). Spruce's account was inclusive of used for scientific studies on ayahuasca, which was described by missionaries of the time as a drink with divinatory and healing powers.…”