Traditional phytotherapy of the Albanians of Lepushe, Northern Albanian Alps.

An ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacognostic survey has been carried out in one of the most isolated mountainous area in Europe: the village of Lepushe and its surrounding territory, in the Northern Albanian Alps. Approximately 70 botanical taxa and 160 preparations, mainly derived from plants, but also derived from animal products or minerals, have been recorded. The archaic belief of the signature still plays a very important role in the present ethnomedicine of the Albanians of Lepushe.