Zulu medicinal ethnobotany: new records from the Amandawe area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

An ethnobotanical survey at Amandawe in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa with 37 participants has revealed 110 new medicinal species records (ca. 31% of the total of 359 species), 560 newly recorded Zulu vernacular names and name variations (66% of the total of 859 names), 60 newly recorded praise names (88% of the total of 69) and 1106 new use-records (78% of the total of 1423 medicinal uses that were recorded at Amandawe). The Fabaceae and Asteraceae each accounted for 8.6% of the species, far outnumbering the other 98 families recorded. The subcategory ‘tonics’ had the highest number of plant species (156), followed by dermatological (125) and gastro-intestinal (102), while ophthalmic (11), endocrine system (11) and anthelmintics (22) had among the lowest numbers of species. The most popular medicinal plants (as indicated by their Species Popularity Index value) were Cannabis sativa (1.00), Leucas lavandulifolia (1.00), Pittosporum viridiflorum (1.00), Spilanthes mauritiana (1.00) and Tetradenia riparia (0.97), while the most important medicinal plants (as indicated by their Cultural Importance Index values) were Tetradenia riparia (1.84), Spilanthes mauritiana (1.62), Microglossa mespilifolia (1.32) and Leucas lavandulifolia (1.30). Zulu medicinal ethnobotany has long been regarded to be thoroughly documented, yet our findings suggest that contemporary medicinal plant use has not yet been adequately documented.