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Ethnoveterinary medicine in the Arribes del Duero, western Spain

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Abstract

Currently, traditional ethnoveterinary practices are rare in Europe and the plants used previously have been replaced by the modern drugs used by national veterinary services. However, in some rural areas of the Mediterranean basin these traditional practices persist. Here we analyze the plant resources still used, or that have been used up until recently, for the treatment of the health and comfort of animals in a region in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, the Arribes del Duero. We document the use of 84 species, belonging to 39 families (with a total of 2243 use-reports), and 62 herbal remedies based on the use of a single plant species (43) and cited by at least three independent informants. The veterinary use of the Ranunculaceae Clematis campaniflora is reported for the first time. We also identify several plants used as bedding or fodder for livestock and discuss the relevance of some toxic plants and some “magical-curative” aspects reported in the territory.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks go out to all interview participants for generously sharing their knowledge about traditional animal health care.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Salamanca, E-37071, Salamanca, Spain

    José A. González, Mónica García-Barriuso & Francisco Amich

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  1. José A. González
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  2. Mónica García-Barriuso
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  3. Francisco Amich
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Correspondence to José A. González.

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Participating group (Salamanca, Spain) in “Red Iberoamericana de Saberes y Prácticas Locales sobre el Entorno Vegetal” (RISAPRET, CYTED), URL: http://www.fca.unju.edu.ar/risapret/menu.html

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González, J.A., García-Barriuso, M. & Amich, F. Ethnoveterinary medicine in the Arribes del Duero, western Spain. Vet Res Commun 35, 283–310 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-011-9473-y

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