The African cherry: A review of the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, and biological activities of Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalkman.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalkman (Rosaceae), commonly known as "Pygeum" or "African cherry", occurs in mainland montane forests scattered across sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and some surrounding islands.

The loneliness of the long-distance ethnobotanist: a constructive critique of methods used in an ethnoveterinary study in Mongolia.

Background: Fieldwork plays an important role in research projects across a variety of fields, especially in the multidisciplinary setting of natural and social science research. As is the nature of fieldwork, things do not always work out as planned, and yet this is not often written about. In response to the need for honest and transparent accounts of fieldwork, the purpose of this article is to review the methods used during fieldwork for the first author's dissertation research on ethnoveterinary knowledge.

Blue genome: chromosome-scale genome reveals the evolutionary and molecular basis of indigo biosynthesis in Strobilanthes cusia.

Natural plant dyes have been developed and used across many traditional societies worldwide. The blue pigment indigo has seen widespread usage across South America, Egypt, Europe, India and China for thousands of years, mainly extracted from indigo-rich plants. The utilization and genetic engineering of indigo in industries and ethnobotanical studies on the effects of cultural selection on plant domestication are limited due to lack of relevant genetic and genomic information of dye plants.

Scientists' Warning on Climate Change and Medicinal Plants.

The recent publication of a World Scientists' Warning to Humanity highlighted the fact that climate change, absent strenuous mitigation or adaptation efforts, will have profound negative effects for humanity and other species, affecting numerous aspects of life. In this paper, we call attention to one of these aspects, the effects of climate change on medicinal plants. These plants provide many benefits for human health, particularly in communities where Western medicine is unavailable.

Island blues: indigenous knowledge of indigo-yielding plant species used by Hainan Miao and Li dyers on Hainan Island, China.

Background: Historically, indigo-yielding plant species were important cash crops from Central Asia to the southern United States and Central America. Indigo-dyed textiles were widely traded along the legendary Silk Road that linked China to Europe. Today, due to the labor-intensive nature of indigo extraction at the household level, lifestyle changes and the widespread availability of commercially produced indigo paste, traditional indigo extraction methods have declined in villages.

Identity blues: the ethnobotany of the indigo dyeing by Landian Yao (Iu Mien) in Yunnan, Southwest China.

Background: Indigo-dyed textiles have been central to the cultural identity of Landian Yao (literally "blue clothes Yao") people in Southwest China for centuries, driving a significant local market for naturally dyed indigo cloth. In the past two decades, local indigo production for traditional textiles has declined for several reasons: Firstly, the younger generation of Landian Yao has shifted to using western style jeans and T-shirts. Secondly, due to its labor-intensive nature.

A billion cups: The diversity, traditional uses, safety issues and potential of Chinese herbal teas.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Herbal teas have long been consumed by Chinese people for preventive and/or therapeutic healthcare. Although herbal teas are widely consumed by many cultural groups in different regions of China, no thorough review has been undertaken to assess the diversity of the country's herbal tea usage. This literature review, complemented by a quantitative survey in an important tea market in Kunming, begins to fill this knowledge gap.

Risks to birds traded for African traditional medicine: a quantitative assessment.

Few regional or continent-wide assessments of bird use for traditional medicine have been attempted anywhere in the world. Africa has the highest known diversity of bird species used for this purpose. This study assesses the vulnerability of 354 bird species used for traditional medicine in 25 African countries, from 205 genera, 70 families, and 25 orders.