MORG Posted March 22, 2013 South Africa really is an ethnobotanical hotspot. The country has a floral biodiversity rivalling Australia and rich, deep and widespread traditions of plant use in all realms of life. As a visitor here in the Zulu heartland for the last couple of months I have only been exposed to the Zulu and Basotho side of the story (and not very deeply at that), but plant-use for ritual, health and religion are a firmly ingrained part of life here. There are muthi markets in town selling all manner of concoctions, dried herbals and remedies spanning uses from digestive ailments to child birth to lifting curses. Field guides to the local flora include local names with traditional uses for plants (including things like 'charm to ward off lightning'). The botany conference has enough ethnobotany to fill a couple of days of talks and the students and academics come from a couple of the best ethnobotany and phytochemistry labs in the world. If you want to study ethnobotany its a country you should seriously consider working in. I have seen swathes of Silene capensis and dense pockets of Leonotis leonurus in the grasslands here. A photo of the latter in its natural habitat is embedded below. Unfortunately I just missed peak flowering, so while my photo shows only one plant, there were plenty more carrying the remnants of flowers just finished. It was nice to see it at home. The arid areas I've yet to explore, but seeing Sceletium, Hoodia and in their native habitat would be a thrill. I'm not sure on the details, but there are some here with a "traditional healers licence" who advertise online for ayahuasca sessions and there are a couple of aya retreats. This community seems small and reclusive however. Iboga is legal; there are clinics administering treatments, and it doesn't have far to travel from Cameroon/Gabon. If you ever make it over here, make some time for plant tourism. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yeti101 Posted March 22, 2013 Totally agree - South Africa has loads of potential. This thread: African Psychoactive Plants, isn't limited to South Africa, but if you has a lot of relevant info and links to articles etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
