| The ethnobotany of East Timor was examined for the first time with emphasis being placed on documenting traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. The medicinal plant traditions of 3 distinct East Timorese cultures were studied and compared using both modern quantitative ethnobotanical methods but also with classical descriptive ethnobotanical techniques. A total of 116 medicinal plant species were identified. The medicinal plant traditions of the Laklei and Idate cultures of East Timor were compared using Trotter and Logan's (1986) quantitative 'informant consensus factor'. On average, informant consensus was greater in Laklei suggesting a medicinal plant tradition that is more well defined than in Idate, where informants are more likely to use the same medicinal plants when treating similar illnesses. Furthermore, only 11 of 86 medicinal plant species documented with these two cultures were used by both cultures of which only 6 had similar uses. The medicinal plant tradition of a third indigenous culture, the Fataluku people, was documented using classical descriptive ethnobotanical techniques. Over 70% of the Fataluku medicinal plants were different from those used by the Laklei or the Idate people. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
