Medicinal Plants Classification Biosynthesis and ... - Index of

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Gustavo J. Martínez, Mara Sato and Marta Ojeda
to treat “ojeaduras”, infusions of ―guayacán‖ (Porlieria microphylla) leaves or rubbings
with ―alcanfor‖ (camphor- Artemisia alba) are also used.
II. Peasant Medicinal Plants
Characterization of Plant Pharmacopoeia
The catalogue of plants used in the peasant medicine of the Sierras de Córdoba analyzed
in this review includes 1366 medicinal uses corresponding to 362 species, native and exotic,
belonging to 91 botanical families. The complete detail of applications and uses can be found
in each of the specific articles. Table 1 presents a list of medicinal applications of the species
with the greatest consensus among the regions and authors considered in this work.
Regarding the diversity of uses, Figure 2 lists 20 species with the highest number of
medicinal applications. About 70% of these species are native; the remaining 30% are either
introduced cultivated species (15%) or adventitious species (15%). In first place, with more
than 25 different uses, is ―ruda‖ (rue- Ruta chalepensis), a cultivated or sometimes
adventitious species; second is a native species, ―contrayerba‖ (Trixis divaricata subsp.
discolor). The use of rue is widespread among the criollo traditional medicine ambit of this
region as well as in other areas of the country (Di Lullo, 1944; Arenas & Galafassi, 1994;
Idoyaga Molina, 2000a,b). In both cases, the informers generally attribute special powers to
these plants for treating any kind of imbalance, regardless of its origin (organic or social).
Therefore, we understand that the number of uses for rue and ―contrayerba‖ and their
therapeutic capacity for a wide scope of afflictions constitutes an expression of their power in
the sacred sense and not only to their pharmacological potential (Idoyaga Molina, 2000b) 4 ; in
turn, this evidences the need to approach these quantitative elements with an interpretative
perspective. Other important native species (Figure 3) are bushes or trees like the ―espinillo‖
(Acacia caven var. caven), ―sombra de toro‖ (Jodina rhombifolia); aromatic bushes like ―palo
amarillo‖ (Whitebrush, Aloysia gratissima var. gratissima), ―poleo‖ (Lippia turbinata) and
―peperina‖ (Minthostachys mollis); non-aromatic bushes and sub-bushes like ―malvavisco‖
(Sphaeralcea cordobensis), ―quiebraarado‖ (Heimia salicifolia), ―salvia blanca‖ (white sage,
Buddleja cordobensis) and ―jarilla‖; herbs like ―doradilla‖ (Anemia tomentosa var.
tomentosa), ―ortiga‖ (nettles- Urtica urens), ―quimpe‖ (Lepidium didymum), ―paico‖
(Chenopodium ambrosioides), among others.
Some of the introduced adventitious species (Figure 4) are ―malva‖ (mallow- M.
parviflora, M. sylvestris) and ―llantén‖ (plantain- Plantago major); among the cultivated
species we find, other than rue, ―altamisa‖ (tansy- Tanacetum parthenium), ―romero‖
(rosemary- Rosmarinus officinalis) and ―manzanilla‖ (chamomile- Matricaria recutita).
Depending on the habit, biological form and botanical origin of the species, Figure 5
shows that most of the pharmacopoeia is composed of bushes and sub-bushes, followed by
herbs and to a lesser degree trees, creepers, lianas and non-vascular forms. Introduced species
4 Despite this, rue (Ruta chalepensis) has been greatly studied from a phytochemical point of
view, and also for its therapeutic and pharmacological properties (Arteche García et al.
1998); however, ―contrayerba‖ (Trixis divaricata subsp. discolor) has not been studied and
there are only scarce references to its essential oils (Fester et al., 1961).