Abstract:

Traditional knowledge is influenced by ancestry, inter-cultural diffusion and interaction with the natural environment. It is problematic to assess the contri-butions of these influences independently because closely related ethnic groups may also be geographically close, exposed to similar environments and able to exchange knowledge readily. Medicinal plant use is one of the most important components of traditional knowledge, since plants provide healthcare for up to 80% of the world’s population. Here, the author assess the significance of ancestry, geo-graphical proximity of cultures and the environment in determining medicinal plant use for 12 ethnic groups in Nepal. Incorporating phylogenetic information to account for plant evolutionary relatedness, we calculate pairwise distances that describe differences in the ethnic groups’ medicinal floras and floristic environments. The author also determine linguistic relatedness and geographical separation for all pairs of ethnic groups