Medicinal ethnobotany of wild plants: a cross-cultural comparison around Georgia-Turkey border, the Western Lesser Caucasus

Despite shared floral diversity and historical-cultural ties, medicinal ethnobotanical knowledge shows limited cross-border similarity between communities in the Western Caucasus. Only 9% of documented use-reports (URs) for 152 wild plant species were common across Georgia and Turkey, with just 33 species exhibiting consistent medicinal applications on both sides. While 66% of URs were novel to literature, key shared species—such as Plantago major and Urtica dioica—demonstrate enduring cultural significance. The study, conducted through interviews with 119 participants during transhumance periods (2017–2018), revealed that knowledge patterns vary by ethnolinguistic factors, cultural background, and access to multilingual literature. Findings suggest complex influences on medicinal plant traditions, warranting further investigation into intracultural diversity and socio-economic conditions.

Kazancı, C., Oruç, S., & Mosulishvili, M. (2020). Medicinal ethnobotany of wild plants: a cross-cultural comparison around Georgia-Turkey border, the Western Lesser Caucasus. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-020-00415-y