This website is a curated ethnobotanical resource, intended to document traditional medicinal uses of plants by cultures around the world. Ethnobotanical claims are presented alongside of scientific investigation of plant species: human and animal trials, chemical decomposition studies, and others.
The goal is to preserve medicinal knowledge, aid in corroborating ethnobotanical claims, and to inspire further research. In addition, we hope to make the information accessbile to a broader audience.
Please note that ingestion, application, or other use of plants without proper preparation can be dangerous. Preparation steps are outside of the scope of this site. For more information, see our disclaimer.
Traditional knowledge about the plant kingdom faces various cultural and environmental challenges. Linguistic, cultural and natural diversity are closely linked; as the world becomes more interconnected and homogeneous, we lose valuable experiential knowledge about the world around us.
Ethnobotany is the study of the plants of a region and their use by the indigeonous people. These claims are of cultural rather than scientific significance. That said, they offer excellent leads for scientific investigation.
Ethnobotanical claims are essentially anecodotal. On their own, they are not sufficient to demonstrate that the species is effective for any specific usage. Such claims may or may not be verifiable by rigorous scientific inquiry.
Though a key focus of this website is to aid in the scientific investigation of culturally relevant plants, we do not seek to prove or disprove the claims found in ethnobotanical studies using science. We value modern science, but acknowledge its limitations: it is costly to conduct, difficult to reproduce, and has a pervasive reductionist bias.
Ethnobotany exists at the crossroads of traditional and scientific knowledge, occupying an interesting space in science epistemology. Accounts of traditional medicines have a good track record of translating to biomedical discoveries. Such claims provide us with more insight to the natural world than we would otherwise have, and often warrent scientific investigation.
We hope to shed light on botanical species using these complementary disciplines: to both preserve cultural knowledge and to provide a detailed profile of verified chemical and medicinal properties.