The importance of chemosensory clues in Aguaruna tree classification and identification

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, May 2008

Background The ethnobotanical literature still contains few detailed descriptions of the sensory criteria people use for judging membership in taxonomic categories. Olfactory criteria in particular have been explored very little. This paper will describe the importance of odor for woody plant taxonomy and identification among the Aguaruna Jívaro of the northern Peruvian Amazon, focusing on the Aguaruna category númi (trees excluding palms). Aguaruna informants almost always place trees that they consider to have a similar odor together as kumpají – 'companions,' a metaphor they use to describe trees that they consider to be related. Methods The research took place in several Aguaruna communities in the upper Marañón region of the Peruvian Amazon. Structured interview data focus on informant criteria for membership in various folk taxa of trees. Informants were also asked to explain what members of each group of related companions had in common. This paper focuses on odor and taste criteria that came to light during these structured interviews. Botanical voucher specimens were collected, wherever possible. Results Of the 182 tree folk genera recorded in this study, 51 (28%) were widely considered to possess a distinctive odor. Thirty nine of those (76%) were said to have odors similar to some other tree, while the other 24% had unique odors. Aguaruna informants very rarely described tree odors in non-botanical terms. Taste was used mostly to describe trees with edible fruits. Trees judged to be related were nearly always in the same botanical family. Conclusion The results of this study illustrate that odor of bark, sap, flowers, fruit and leaves are important clues that help the Aguaruna to judge the relatedness of trees found in their local environment. In contrast, taste appears to play a more limited role. The results suggest a more general ethnobotanical hypothesis that could be tested in other cultural settings: people tend to consider plants with similar odors to be related, but say that plants with unique odors are unrelated to any other plants.

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The importance of chemosensory clues in Aguaruna tree classification and identification

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine The importance of chemosensory clues in Aguaruna tree classification and identification Kevin A Jernigan 0 Address: Ethnobotany program, University of Alaska , Bethel, Alaska , USA Background: The ethnobotanical literature still contains few detailed descriptions of the sensory criteria people use for judging membership in taxonomic categories. Olfactory criteria in particular have been explored very little. This paper will describe the importance of odor for woody plant taxonomy and identification among the Aguaruna Jvaro of the northern Peruvian Amazon, focusing on the Aguaruna category nmi (trees excluding palms). Aguaruna informants almost always place trees that they consider to have a similar odor together as kumpaj - 'companions,' a metaphor they use to describe trees that they consider to be related. Methods: The research took place in several Aguaruna communities in the upper Maran region of the Peruvian Amazon. Structured interview data focus on informant criteria for membership in various folk taxa of trees. Informants were also asked to explain what members of each group of related companions had in common. This paper focuses on odor and taste criteria that came to light during these structured interviews. Botanical voucher specimens were collected, wherever possible. Results: Of the 182 tree folk genera recorded in this study, 51 (28%) were widely considered to possess a distinctive odor. Thirty nine of those (76%) were said to have odors similar to some other tree, while the other 24% had unique odors. Aguaruna informants very rarely described tree odors in non-botanical terms. Taste was used mostly to describe trees with edible fruits. Trees judged to be related were nearly always in the same botanical family. Conclusion: The results of this study illustrate that odor of bark, sap, flowers, fruit and leaves are important clues that help the Aguaruna to judge the relatedness of trees found in their local environment. In contrast, taste appears to play a more limited role. The results suggest a more general ethnobotanical hypothesis that could be tested in other cultural settings: people tend to consider plants with similar odors to be related, but say that plants with unique odors are unrelated to any other plants. - Background Chemosensory characters in the ethnobotanical literature The structure of folk taxonomies of living organisms has been a major focus of the cognitive ethnobotanical literature of the last several decades. A key part of the discussion has been a debate over the relative importance of morphological, ecological and utilitarian factors as bases for folk taxonomies [1-4]. Despite extensive treatment of this subject, the literature still contains surprisingly few detailed descriptions of the specific sensory criteria used for judging membership in taxonomic categories. Some authors [2,5] have included sets of contrasting features for folk species within polytypic folk genera. However, the importance of chemosensory criteria (taste and smell) for folk classification and identification has been addressed very little. The question of how people distinguish plants with particular kinds of medicinal activities from the many species growing in their local environment is one of great interest to the fields of ethnopharmacology and medical ethnobotany [6-9]. Odor and taste, along with visual and tactile clues tend to be important means for recognizing medicinal plants cross-culturally. In some cases, sensory clues are related to beliefs about illness etiologies. Glenn Shepard [9] reports that the Matsigenka and Yora ethnic groups of the southern Peruvian Amazon believe that foul smelling atmospheric vapors and spirits can cause sickness among people. The Matsigenka use strong smelling aromatic plants to combat these harmful influences. In contrast, the Yora say that the spirits of strong smelling plants can cause illness, and, following a homeopathic logic, are also capable of curing the same illnesses that they cause. Lisa Gollin [6] has investigated the sensory clues that allow the Kenyah Leppo' Ke of Borneo to recognize medicinal plants. Her research particularly focuses on the association of particular kinds of tastes and odor qualities with particular kinds of healing properties. Gollin points out the importance of volatile and essential oils for the medicinal properties of plants. Similarly, Leonti et al. [7] report the kinds of odors and, particularly, tastes, that are associated with healing plants among the Popoluca of southern Veracruz, Mexico. Pieroni and Torry [8] have recently compared tastes associated with medicinal activity among Gujarati, Kashmiri and English informants. Shepard [9] has argued for the need to explore cross-cultural sensory experience from a multidisciplinary perspective. He notes that accounts of sensation from anthropology have often ignored the contributions of the biological sciences. Shepard propose (...truncated)


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Kevin A Jernigan. The importance of chemosensory clues in Aguaruna tree classification and identification, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2008, pp. 12, 4, DOI: 10.1186/1746-4269-4-12