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Traditional markets in Vietnam are considered as important places for trading medicinal plants and also play a social role of exchanging traditional use of herbal medicine among different cultural and social groups at the local level. This study aims to identify and document medicinal plants used in 32 traditional markets of Son La province. Data were obtained through interviews and field observation method. A total of 167 informants include 13 herbalists, 49 herbal sellers, and 105 local people were interviewed. The study collected a total of 99 plant species belonging to 88 genera and 57 families. Identified plant species are used by local people for the treatment of 61 different diseases. Leaves, stems and roots are most commonly used either fresh, dried or by decocting the dried parts in water. In the study, the Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC) ranged from 0.02 to 0.44; the Use Value (UV) ranged from 0 to 0.84; the Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) ranged from 0.84 to 1; the Fidelity Level (FL) ranged from 44.44% to 100%. Villagers view and our observations confirmed that knowledge about the number of medicinal plants available in the study area and used by interviewees positively correlated with the threats on medicinal plants in the wild habitats. Illegal and unsustainable exploitation by the local people is a major cause of their depletion from nature.

Aim To establish a complete database of Juglandaceae at a spatiotemporal scale and develop a phylogeographic framework with which to elucidate the distributional patterns, diversity patterns, origins, evolution, and conservation priority regions of this family. Location Worldwide. Taxon Walnut family (Juglandaceae). Methods Data on the distribution of all the extant and fossil species of Juglandaceae were collected, followed by analyses of its latitudinal distribution, elevational distribution, and species and generic diversity. Furthermore, based on all genera and 87% of the species, we reconstructed phylogenetic relationships, estimated divergence times, calculated phylogenetic diversity and inferred ancestral distributions. Results Extant Juglandaceae (10 genera and 60 species) are mainly distributed in eastern Asia and North America (principally between 20 and 40°N). Tropical Juglandaceae mainly inhabit mountainous areas higher than 1,000 m, especially in the New World. Southwest China and northern Vietnam are characterized by high species, generic and phylogenetic diversity. The United States of America has only high species diversity. The area of origin of Juglandaceae was North America and Europe in the early Eocene, and its widespread dispersal mainly occurred between 13 and 26 Ma. Main conclusions The members of Juglandaceae inhabit areas with temperate climatic conditions. The diversification centre has shifted intercontinentally from North America and Europe to Southwest China and northern Vietnam, which are identified as conservation priority regions. The high‐latitude cooling during the Oligocene followed by a long‐term stable warmer climate in the early and middle Miocene drove the southward translocation of the family.

SUMMARYThis paper surveys the medicinal plants and their traditional use by local people in Ben En National Park, Vietnam. A total of 230 medicinal plant species (belonging to 200 genera and 84 families) is used by local people for treatment of 68 different diseases. These include species that are collected in the wild (65%) as well as species grown in home gardens. Leaves, stems and roots are most commonly used either fresh or dried or by decocting the dried parts in water. Women are mainly responsible for health care, they have better knowledge of medicinal plants than men, and also collect them more than men at almost every age level. The indigenous knowledge of traditional medicinal plants may be rapidly lost because 43% of the young generation do not know or do not want to learn about medicinal plants, and the remainder knows little about them. Moreover, nowadays local people tend to use western medicine. Eighteen medicinal plant species are commercialized and contribute on average 11% to the income of the households. The majority of medicinal species are used by less than half of the households and 68% of the medicinal plant species have use indices lower than 0.25. Only 6 of the medicinal species of Ben En are listed in the Red data list of Vietnam, but locally 18 medicinal species are endangered because of overharvesting.A comparison of traditional uses of medicinal plants in Ben En National Park with traditional uses elsewhere in South-East Asia and the Indo-Pacific region shows that the same species may be used for widely different treatments by different ethnic groups.The conservation, sustainable use and economic potential of medicinal plants is discussed. We argue that their use, cultivation in home gardens, and marketing should be encouraged as an affordable alternative to expensive western medicine.

This field guide to 100 economically or ecologically important tree species from Laos and Vietnam enables the user to identify the included taxa with user-friendly keys. It includes scientific names, botanical descriptions of families, genera, and species. Specific information on distribution, habitat, ecology, and uses has been compiled. All specimens examined have been listed.