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  • Living reference work
  • © 2020

Ethnobotany of the Andes

  • Includes the best and latest research on a full range of descriptive, methodological, theoretical, and applied research on the most important plants for this mountainous region
  • Includes contributions from experts in the fields of biology, anthropology, agronomy, geography, biochemistry, and environmental economics
  • Provides a framework for the increasing international interest and scholarship in ethnobotany
  • Heavily illustrated with hundreds of color photographs

Part of the book series: Ethnobotany of Mountain Regions (ETMORE)

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Table of contents (302 entries)

  1. Acaena magellanica (Lam.) Vahl Rosaceae

    • Javier Echeverría, Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann
  2. Achillea millefolium L. Asteraceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  3. Acmella oppositifolia (Lam.) R.K. JansenAsteraceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Javier Echeverría, Carolina Romero
  4. Adiantum concinnum Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd. Adiantum raddianum C. Presl. Adiantaceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  5. Agave americana L. Agavaceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  6. Ageratum conyzioides L.Asteraceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  7. Airampoa ayrampo (Azara) DoweldCactaceae

    • Javier Echeverría, Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann
  8. Allionia incarnata L. Nyctaginaceae

    • Javier Echeverría, Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann
  9. Allium cepa L. Allium fistulosum L. Allium ramosum L. Allium sativum L. Amaryllidaceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  10. Alnus acuminata Kunth Betulaceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  11. Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f. Asphodelaceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  12. Aloysia deserticola (Phil.) Lu-Irving & O’Leary Aloysia triphylla Royle Verbenaceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Javier Echeverría, Carolina Romero
  13. Ambrosia arborescens Mill. Ambrosia artemisioides Meyen & Walp. ex Meyen Ambrosia cumanensis Kunth Asteraceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Javier Echeverría, Carolina Romero
  14. Anacardium occidentale L.Anacardiaceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  15. Anethum graveolens L. Apiaceae

    • Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann, Carolina Romero
  16. Anthemis arvensis L. Asteraceae

    • Javier Echeverría, Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana, Rainer W. Bussmann

About this book

Research in recent years has increasingly shifted away from purely academic research, and into applied aspects of the discipline, including climate change research, conservation, and sustainable development. It has by now widely been recognized that “traditional” knowledge is always in flux and adapting to a quickly changing environment. Trends of globalization, especially the globalization of plant markets, have greatly influenced how plant resources are managed nowadays. While ethnobotanical studies are now available from many regions of the world, no comprehensive encyclopedic series focusing on the worlds mountain regions is available in the market. Scholars in plant sciences worldwide will be interested in this dynamic content. 

The field (and thus the market) of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology has grown considerably in recent years. Student interest is on the rise, attendance at professional conferences has grown steadily, and the number of professionals calling themselves ethnobotanists has increased significantly. Various societies of such professionals include the Society for Economic Botany, the International Society of Ethnopharmacology, the Society of Ethnobiology, the International Society for Ethnobiology, and many regional and national societies in the field that currently have thousands of members. Growth has been most robust in BRIC countries.


The objective of this new MRW on Ethnobotany of Mountain Regions is to take advantage of the increasing international interest and scholarship in the field of mountain research. We anticipate including the best and latest research on a full range of descriptive, methodological, theoretical, and applied research on the most important plants for each region. Each contribution will be scientifically rigorous and contribute to the overall field of study.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Instituto de Ecología-UMSA, La Paz, Bolivia

    Narel Y. Paniagua-Zambrana

  • Institute of Botany, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia

    Rainer W. Bussmann

About the editors

Dr. Narel Y. Paniagua Zambrana is an ethnobiologist and ethnobotanist  working as a research associate at the Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, a part of the Instituto de Ecología at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres, and as a research associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden. She also works as a Research Consultant for the Institute of Botany at Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia, and as a Profesor Invitado for the Facultád de Ciencias Biológicas at the Universidád Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Peru. In 2019, she was one of five scientists to receive the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Women Scientists in the Developing World.


Dr. Paniagua Zambrana specializes in the use and conservation of palms (Arecaceae). Her research focuses on ethnobotanical research and the preservation of traditional knowledge in Bolivia, Peru, Madagascar, the Caucasus, and the Himalayas.





Dr. Rainer W. Bussmann is an ethnobotanist and vegetation ecologist, and Co-Founder of the Institute of Botany's Department of Ethnobotany at Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia. Prior, he held directorship of the William L. Brown Center at the Missouri Botanical Garden, worked as research Fellow in Geography and the Environment at UT Austin, was Associate Professor of Botany and Scientific Director of the Harold Lyon Arboretum at the University of Hawaii, and was Assistant Professor at the Universitaet Bayreuth.


Dr. Bussmann's work focuses on ethnobotanical research, and the preservation of traditional knowledge, in Bolivia, Peru, the Caucasus, and the Himalayas.



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