Etnobotánica de los criollos del Chaco Subhúmedo argentino I: Correspondencias botánico-fitonímicas y caracterización general de un nuevo complejo biocultural

Abstract

The general aim of this work is to distinguish and identify the Creole of the Argentine Subhumid Chaco as a new bio-cultural complex, to describe the botanical correspondences of their phytonymy, and to carry out a general characterization of their ethnobotany. Six field works were carried out between October 2017 and March 2022 in the center-north of Chaco Province. Classic ethnobotanical methodology was applied. This consisted of interviews and the collection of herbarium material with 51 collaborators from the area. A total of 541 matches between 369 botanical taxa and 457 types of vernacular names were obtained from 2075 reports; 1625 Criollos’ plant uses or meanings were registered. This refers to a total of 420 taxa throughout 4290 reports or mentions. Results from quantitative comparisons with Criollos’ phytonymic correspondences registered in neighboring areas of the Subhumid Chaco allow us to infer that the latter belong to the same bio-cultural complex proposed here. If we added these phytonyms to those obtained in the field it makes a total of 837 correspondences among 662 types of vernacular names assigned to 537 plant taxa, and three mushrooms. On the other hand, results of the quantitative comparisons between this phytonymy and those found in ethnobotanical investigations with Criollos from the Humid and Semiarid Chaco allow us to infer substantial differences between them, which reaffirms the condition of the Criollos of the Subhumid Chaco as a new bio-cultural complex.