TAXONOMIC ISSUES IN POLISH ETHNOBOTANICAL STUDIES (Problemy taksonomiczne w polskich badaniach etnobotanicznych)

• Authors: Luczaj Lukasz
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The aim of the article is to discuss possible problems faced by researchers studying the traditional use of plants in Poland. One of the main issues is the discrepancy between the folk taxonomy and Polish scientific names. It is often the case that a Polish scientific name assigned arbitrarily to a certain genus was actually extensively used by common people to name different genera. Sometimes the confusion is caused by the different meaning of certain folk names in different parts of Poland. The paper also discusses which Latin names should be given to folk generics that refer to one or a few botanical species (e.g. lipa - linden), whether they should be labelled with only the scientific generics (Tilia sp.) or with the most commonly used botanical species (Tilia cordata), or whether they should be given a more detailed description ('mainly Tilia cordata and possibly T. platyphyllos'). In this article botanical mistakes in Polish ethnographic studies are discussed and a list of the most confusing taxa is given. Besides, the author lists a few taxa often omitted or not properly recognised in ethnographic studies. The author suggests some ways to improve the quality of ethnobotanical research. These are: the use of specimens, recording informant consensus, interviewing informants in the field (in the plants' habitat), and cross-checking the gathered material (herbarium specimens, plant photos and names) with a plant taxonomy specialist.

Keywords

EN

ETHNOBOTANICS; FOLK TAXONOMY; PLANT NAMES

Discipline

• ETHNOLOGY: ETHNOLOGY

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze
• Journal: Lud
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 92
• Pages: 43-64
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Luczaj Lukasz

• Lukasz Luczaj, Wyzsza Szkola Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna w Lodzi, ul. Rewolucji 1905r. 64, 90-222 Lódz, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

09PLAAAA05513