Plants traditionally used for industrial and artisanal purposes in the Arribes del Duero (Spain)

Abstract

The present ethnobotanical study, performed between 2005 and 2009 at the Natural Park of the Arribes del Duero (Salamanca-Zamora, Spain), documents the traditional use for technological purposes of 68 vascular plants belonging to 33 families. We interviewed 80 people of different ages native to the zone (mean 72). For each plant species we provide the vernacular terms, the parts used, and the uses made of them (furniture, the elaboration of household utensils, plant fibres, etc.). The species most frequently cited were Quercus ilex L. subsp. ballota (Desf.) Samp., Q. pyrenaica Willd., Ulmus minor Mill. and Olea europaea L. The results of this study confirm the persistence of a rich traditional knowledge in Spanish rural communities; a type of knowledge that affords abundant data for improving and adapting modern production activities to a sustainable model of development, above all as regards the rational consumption of raw materials.