Ethnobotany of Mexican and northern Central American cycads (Zamiaceae)

Abstract

BackgroundThis study documents cycad-human relationships in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras over the last 6000 years. The impetus was acute need for a better understanding of previously undocumented uses of cycads in this region, and the need to improve cycad conservation strategies using ethnobotanical data. We hypothesized that cycads are significant dietary items with no long-term neurological effects, are important to religious practice, and contribute to cultural identity and sense of place, but that traditional knowledge and uses are rapidly eroding. Guiding questions focused on nomenclature, food and toxicity, relationships to palms and maize, land management issues, roles in religious ceremony, and medicinal uses, among others, and contributions of these to preservation of cycads.MethodsFrom 2000 to 2017, the authors conducted 411 semi-structured ethnographic interviews, engaged in participant-observation in Mexican and Honduran communities, and carried out archival research and literature surveys.ResultsWe documented 235 terms and associated uses that 28 ethnic groups have for 57 species in 19 languages across 21 Mexican states and 4 Central American nations. Carbohydrate-rich cycads have been both famine foods and staples for at least six millennia across the region and are still consumed in Mexico and Honduras. Certain parts are eaten without removing toxins, while seed and stem starches are detoxified via several complex processes. Leaves are incorporated into syncretic Roman Catholic-Mesoamerican religious ceremonies such as pilgrimages, Easter Week, and Day of the Dead. Cycads are often perceived as ancestors and protectors of maize, revealing a close relationship between both groups. Certain beliefs and practices give cycads prominent roles in conceptions of sense of place and cultural heritage.ConclusionsCycads are still used as foods in many places. Though they do not appear to cause long-term neurological damage, their health effects are not fully understood. They are often important to religion and contribute to cultural identity and sense of place. However, because most traditional knowledge and uses are rapidly eroding, new community-based biocultural conservation efforts are needed. These should incorporate tradition where possible and seek inspiration from existing successful cases in Honduras and Mexico.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13002-018-0282-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Congruence between ocean‐dispersal modelling and phylogeography explains recent evolutionary history of Cycas species with buoyant seeds

“…Dispersal and other movements of humans also may play a role in dispersing buoyant Cycas , given the significance of cycads to certain ethnic groups as important cultural and food plants (Bonta et al ., 2019). For example, C. seemannii has been of great cultural importance and could have been an important food source for the first colonizers throughout the Pacific islands (Keppel, 2009).…”

The need for multidisciplinary conservation: a case study of Ceratozamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales) in eastern Mexico

“…In particular, the threat categories used in Mexican legislation need to be updated (Figs 2 & 4). Considering that most cycad species in this area have cultural importance as religious symbols (Bonta et al, 2019), a re-evaluation of the relationship between cycads and people is important for the conservation of this group. We recommend community-managed protected areas to improve conservation effectiveness, and the incorporation of traditional knowledge in the planning and implementation of conservation actions (Berkes, 2009; Shahabuddin & Rao, 2010).…”

The virtues of being peripheral, recreational, and transnational: local wild food and medicinal plant knowledge in selected remote municipalities of Calabria, Southern Italy

“…The municipality of Nardodipace is characterized by extreme poverty and geographical isolation and this may have contributed to the persistence of TEK related to wild plants. Many publications (however none of them regarding Europe) agree with this correlation between remoteness and richness of wild plant foraging knowledge (Misra et al 2008;De La Torre et al 2012;Bonta et al 2019), especially in the medicinal domain (Ballabh et al 2017;Bhattarai et al 2006;Sarri et al 2015;Kumar et al 2009;Amjad et al 2017).…”