Abstract
This study focuses on plants used for medicinal purposes in the Mt. Pelion area of Greece; however other plant uses were noted when discovered. A total of 225 taxa representing 77 families are presented along with habitat data and ethnobotanical information when relevant. Some notes on related species are also included. In addition to ethnobotanical field research which included collection of voucher specimens, ancient literature pertaining to plant usage was also consulted. Local markets that sold wild plants or their products were investigated as well. Some plants not known to be ethnobotanically significant were also collected in order to learn more about species distribution on Mt. Pelion. It is possible that ancient plant usage information that was lost due to the destruction of classical literary works has survived in the oral tradition in the Mt. Pelion area and elsewhere in Greece. A number of little known psychoactive and narcotic plant uses (including ivy as an additive to wine) are reported in this publication.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Adams, F. 1939. The genuine works of Hippocrates. The Williams & Hawkins Company, Baltimore.
Anon. 2002. Dionysus and ivy—Mediteranean diet. www.gourmed.gr/mediteranean-diet/show.asp? gid=9&nodeid=77&arid=3820
Botanical.com—Grieve, M. 2004. http://botanical. com/botanicalmgmh/i/i vycoml 5 .html
Brussell, D. E. 1978. Equisetum stores gold (an emission spectroscopy study). Phytologia 38(6):469–473.
Baumann, H. 1993. Translated by W. T. Stearn and E. R. Stearn. The Greek plant world in myth, art, and literature. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Coleridge, E. P. 1960. Trans, of Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica—Jason and the golden fleece. Heritage Press, New York.
Coon, N. 1974. Dictionary of Useful Plants. Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA.
Cragg, G. M., and D. J. Newman. 2003. Plants as a source of anti-cancer and anti-HIV agents. Annals of Applied Biology 143:127–133.
Duke, J. A. 1985. CRC handbook of medicinal herbs. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL.
Fagles, R. 1990. Homer: The Iliad. Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc., New York.
Fearnley-Whittingstall, J. 1999. Peonies the imperial flower. Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London.
Fleming, T. (ed.). 1998. PDR for herbal medicines. Medical Economics Co., Montvale, NJ.
Gunther, R. T. 1959. The Greek herbal of Dioscorides. Hafner Publishing Co., New York.
Hartzell, H. R., Jr. 1995. Yew and us: A brief history of the yew tree. Pages 27–34 in M. Suffness, ed., Taxol science and applications. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL.
Hort, S. A. 1948. Theophrastus—enquiry into plants and minor works on odours and weather signs. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Klein, R. M. 1979. The Green World—an introduction to plants and people. Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., New York.
Krochmal, A., and G. Lavrentiades. 1955. Poisonous plants of Greece. Economic Botany 9:175–189.
Hourmouziadis, M., P. Asimakopoulou-Atzka, and K. A. Makris. 1982. Magnesia the story of a civilization. M.& R. Capon Co., Athens, Greece.
Lattimore, R. 1967. The Odyssey of Homer. Harper & Row, New York.
Levine, E. B. 1971. Hippocrates. Twain Publishers, Inc., New York.
Le vitin, E., and K. McMahon. 2003. Plants and Society. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Lewis, W. H., and M. P. F. Elvin-Lewis. 1977. Medical botany—plants affecting man’s health. John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Lopinot, N. H., and D. E. Brussell. 1982. Assessing uncarbonized seeds from open-air sites in mesic environments: An example from southern Illinois. Journal of Archaeological Science 9(1):95–108.
Lucas, A. 1934. Ancient Egyptian materials & industries. Edward Arnold & Co., London.
Merlin, M. D. 2003. Archaeological evidence for the tradition of psychoactive plant use in the Old World. Economic Botany 57(3):295–322.
Merrill, E. D. 1945. Plant life of the Pacific world. The Macmillan Co., New York.
Petris, T. N., and Betty Kagia. 1988. Pelion the land of the Centaurs. Michalis Toubis Editions S.A., Athens, Greece.
Rivera, D., C. Inocencio, C. Obon, and F. Alcaraz. 2003. Review of food and medicinal uses of Capparis L. subgenus Capparis (Capparidaceae). Economic Botany 57(4):515–534.
Seaton, R. C. 1955. Translation of Apollonius Rhodius—the Argonautica. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Scholarly Communications, Committee on. 1975. Herbal pharmacology in the People’s Republic of China—trip report of the American herbal pharmacology delegation. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Schuttes, R. E., and A. Hofmann. 1980. The botany and chemistry of hallucinogens. Charles C. Thomas Co., Springfield, IL.
Sflkas, G. 1984. Medicinal plants of Greece. P. Estathiadis & Sons S.A., Athens, Greece.
Smychkov, V. F. 1966. The influence of ivy on the central nervous system. Farmakologi #i#a toxicologi #i #a 29(3):275–278.
Stearn, W. T., and P. H. Davis. 1984. Peonies of Greece. Goulandris Natural History Museum, Kifissia, Greece.
Strid, A. 1980. Wild flowers of Mount Olympus. The Goulandris Natural History Museum, Kifissia, Greece.
Suffness, M., ed. 1995. Taxol science and applications. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL.
Thompson, C. J. S. 1968. The mystic mandrake. University Books, New Hyde Park, New York.
Tippo, O., and W. L. Stern. 1977. Humanistic Botany. WW. Norton & Company. Inc., New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brussell, D.E. Medicinal plants of Mt. Pelion, Greece. Econ Bot 58 (Suppl 1), S174–S202 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2004)58[S174:MPOMPG]2.0.CO;2
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2004)58[S174:MPOMPG]2.0.CO;2
Key Words
- Medicinal plants
- Greek folk medicine
- ethnopharmacology
- medical botany
- materia medica
- phytomedicines
- ancient Greek ethnobotany
- traditional healing
- phytotherapy
- history of medicine
- Mediterranean ethnobotany
- Greek plant folklore
- psychoactive plants
- narcotic plants
- sacerdotal plants
- altered states
- ivy
- mandrake
- yew
- aphrodisiacs
- wine additives
- anaesthetics
- cancer medicines
- Eleusinian Mysteries