Ethnobotanical Uses of Roots of Various Plant Species in Turkey

Abstract

Turkey has advantage of lying on transection of three climatic zones. Namely Europe-Siberia, Iran- Turan and the Mediterranean region situated between 26 and 45° east longitude and 36–42° north latitude in the Northern hemisphere. The number of plant species subspecies, taxa and varieties in Flora of Turkey is above 12,000. In terms of plant diversity in the temperate zone, it attracts attention with its features that are different from the neighbouring countries around it in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. This has led to the development of many distinct ethno-medicinal-botanical habits among local people; who use different plant parts like roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, herbs, seeds, etc. in their cuisines, natural dyeing, decoration, textile dyeing and medicinal purposes, etc. This study reviews ethnomedicinal and botanic uses of the 196 taxa belonging to 54 families and 113 genera grown in Turkey.