Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants Used in Central Macedonia, Greece.

This work provides the ethnobotanical data concerning the traditional use of medicinal plants in Macedonia region (Northern Greece), which has, up to now, been poorly investigated. The aim of the present study was to collect, analyze, and evaluate information on the use of medicinal plants among different population groups living in Central Macedonia. The study was carried out in the area of two small cities, Edessa and Naoussa, and nearby villages. The ethnobotanical data were gathered through extensive and semistructured interviews. The informants belonged to different population groups living in the study areas and were involved, at least partially, in agriculture. Together with detailed reports on each species, data were also summarized by some indices, such as Fidelity Level (FL) and Informant Consensus Factor (Fic). A group of 96 informants was interviewed and 87 plant taxa with medicinal uses were cited. Medicinal plants are used to treat a wide range of diseases, in particular ailments of the respiratory tract and skin disorders. The importance of the traditional use of plants to cure and prevent common and some uncommon diseases had been highlighted. About 55% of medicinal plants mentioned by the informants had been previously reported to be sold in Thessaloniki herbal market as traditional remedies. Medicinal uses of some endemic taxa had been reported, e.g., Satureja montana subsp. macedonica, a member of the S. montana group restricted to Northern Central Greece, Origanum dictamnus, an endemic species of Crete, and six Balkan endemics, i.e., Achillea holosericea, Digitalis lanata, Helleborus odorus subsp. cyclophyllus, Sideritis scardica, Thymus sibthorpii, and Verbascum longifolium. Several differences in Traditional Ethnobotanical Knowledge (TEK) were observed in relation to social and cultural components of the population. Only 7 species (Crataegus monogyna, Hypericum perforatum, Matricaria chamomilla, Rosa canina, Sambucus nigra, Sideritis scardica, and Tilia platyphyllos) were commonly reported by all population groups, whereas 30 out of 87 taxa (34%) were exclusively mentioned by a single group. All groups are incorporated in the local society and do not identify themselves as members of different ethnic groups, although they try to preserve their distinctiveness by keeping their traditions and dialects. Nevertheless, our data show that the knowledge regarding the medicinal plant use was rarely accompanied by preservation of linguistic diversity concerning the plant names. This work contributes to improve the knowledge on the traditional use of plants in the folk medicine of a region like Central Macedonia where different population groups live together, partially maintaining their traditions. A part of data of this paper has been presented as posted at 112° Congress of Italian Botanical Society (IPSC), Parma 20-23 September 2017.

Moderation is best: effects of grazing intensity on plant--flower visitor networks in Mediterranean communities.

The structure of pollination networks is an important indicator of ecosystem stability and functioning. Livestock grazing is a frequent land use practice that directly affects the abundance and diversity of flowers and pollinators and, therefore, may indirectly affect the structure of pollination networks. We studied how grazing intensity affected the structure of plant-flower visitor networks along a wide range of grazing intensities by sheep and goats, using data from 11 Mediterranean plant-flower visitor communities from Lesvos Island, Greece. We hypothesized that intermediate grazing might result in higher diversity as predicted by the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, which could in turn confer more stability to the networks. Indeed, we found that networks at intermediate grazing intensities were larger, more generalized, more modular, and contained more diverse and even interactions. Despite general responses at the network level, the number of interactions and selectiveness of particular flower visitor and plant taxa in the networks responded differently to grazing intensity, presumably as a consequence of variation in the abundance of different taxa with grazing. Our results highlight the benefit of maintaining moderate levels of livestock grazing by sheep and goats to preserve the complexity and biodiversity of the rich Mediterranean communities, which have a long history of grazing by these domestic animals.

Essential-oil diversity of Salvia tomentosa Mill. in Greece.

Salvia tomentosa essential oils from Greece were studied for the first time here. The oils from five populations growing in Mediterranean pine forests on the island of Thassos (northern Aegean Sea) and from 14 populations situated in deciduous forests in Thrace (northeastern Greek mainland) were investigated. Their essential-oil contents ranged from 1.1 to 3.3% (v/w, based on the dry weight of the plant material). The populations from Thassos had high contents of α-pinene (18.0 ± 2.9%), 1,8-cineole (14.7 ± 3.0%), cis-thujone (14.0 ± 6.9%), and borneol (12.8 ± 2.2%) and smaller amounts of camphene, camphor, and ß-pinene, whereas the populations from Thrace showed high α-pinene (16.7 ± 4.0%), ß-pinene (22.8 ± 4.5%), camphor (18.3 ± 4.3%), and camphene (10.3 ± 2.4%) contents, much lower 1,8-cineole and borneol amounts, while cis-thujone was completely lacking. The comparison of the present results with published data showed that oils having cis-thujone as one of the main compounds were reported for the first time here. Multivariate statistical analyses indicate that the observed essential-oil variation was related to geographical and environmental factors.

Essential oils of Thymus leucospermus Hartvig, a Greek endemic rich in phenolic monoterpenes.

Thymus leucospermus Hartvig is a Greek endemic species of Section Teucrioides Jalas. The essential oils obtained from five populations growing wild in the National Park of Northern Pindhos (NW Greece) were studied. The oil content ranged between 1.1 and 2.0 mL per 100 g of dry plant weight. The oils were particularly rich in phenolic monoterpenes: they had a high thymol (64.7-92.0%) or carvacrol (93.4%) content, whereas in one of the oils considerable amount of both compounds was found (thymol 61.6% and carvacrol 26.4%). Our results show that T. leucospermus is a high-quality thyme species, with respect to both oil content and composition.

Essential oils of Micromeria dalmatica Benth., a Balkan endemic species of section Pseudomelissa.

The essential oils of 13 Greek populations of Micromeria dalmatica, a Balkan endemic species and member of the section Pseudomelissa, were examined for the first time. Among the studied populations, two main oil types could be distinguished. Type I was found to be rich in ß-pinene, limonene, and germacrene D (accounting for 55.6-70.2% of the total oil), and Type II was characterized by the preponderance of p-menthane compounds (accounting for 64.2-89.9% of the oil). The latter oil type could be further divided into two subtypes, one comprising oils with predominance of piperitenone and piperitenone oxide and another composed of oils containing high proportions of pulegone, menthone, and isomenthone. The abundance of p-menthane compounds is a common feature of the oils of all members of the section Pseudomelissa studied to date. However, the existence of oils of Type I has not been previously reported for M. dalmatica, neither for other members of the section Pseudomelissa.

Essential oils of three taxa of the Nepeta argolica aggregate from Greece.

The essential-oil composition of three not previously studied taxa belonging to the Nepeta argolica aggregate was examined. The oils of N. argolica ssp. malacotrichos and N. argolica ssp. vourinensis (both Greek endemics) are rich in 1,8-cineole (30.9-55.6% of the total oil composition), while those of the Balkan endemic N. spruneri are rich in either sesquiterpenes (mainly caryophyllene oxide, 14.6-19.8%) or in 4aα,7α,7aß- and 4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactones (total content 17.5-40.5%), accompanied by caryophyllene oxide (11.5-11.7%) and 1,8-cineole (up to 16.5%). The comparison of our results with published information concerning the related taxa of the N. argolica aggregate showed that while oils with as main components nepetalactones or 1,8-cineole are common, sesquiterpene-rich oils are reported for the first time within the aggregate.

Essential-oil diversity of three Calamintha species from Greece.

The aim of the present study was to contribute to the knowledge of the essential-oil composition of the Calamintha officinalis-nepeta complex in Greece and to clarify the main patterns of its variation. The oils obtained from 22 wild-growing populations of C. glandulosa, C. nepeta, and C. menthifolia were studied. They could be classified into two different chemotypes, which correspond to the main biosynthetic routes of the C(3)-oxygenated p-menthane compounds. Chemotype I includes oils rich in trans-piperitone oxide, cis-piperitone oxide, and piperitenone oxide, while Chemotype II comprises oils rich in pulegone and menthone or menthone and isomenthone. Within both chemotypes, quantitative fluctuations of the main components were observed. Comparison with published data showed that the presence of Chemotype II has not been observed before in C. menthifolia, while Chemotype I has been reported in C. nepeta plants from Greece for the first time.

The essential oils of the Greek endemic Satureja horvatii ssp. macrophylla in relation to bioclimate.

The essential oils of the Greek endemic Satureja horvatii subsp. macrophylla collected from 36 areas (among them, 23 are included in twelve sites of the EU network NATURA 2000) belonging to different bioclimatic types were studied. The total essential-oil content is negatively related to the altitude. The variation of the essential oil composition follows a geographical pattern, which is related to the bioclimatic belts along the taxon's range. Carvacrol dominates in areas with Mediterranean and Submediterranean bioclimate (mainly in the S and C part of the taxon's distribution), linalool or trans-sabinene hydrate, and/or borneol in the Submediterranean or Temperate Axeric bioclimates (in the N part of distribution), whereas thymol is found as main oil constituent in all three bioclimates.

"Mints", smells and traditional uses in Thessaloniki (Greece) and other Mediterranean countries.

The herbs of the "mint" group traded in the herbal market of Thessaloniki include eight taxa, members of two genera, Acinos (two species) and Mentha (four species and two hybrids). The essential oil content of 72 samples examined ranged from traces up to 1.69ml/100g of dry weight. Besides three almost scentless samples, the different "mints" are distinguished according to their prominent smell differences, i.e. samples with a pungent, musty and sweet type of smell. As a result, the commercial names attributed to them correspond to a particular type of smell and not to a particular taxon. A number of 29 medicinal uses were recorded in total. In most cases uses were not associated with particular taxa but were rather determined by plant smells. A literature survey has shown that the "mints" traded in Thessaloniki are also used as herbal medicines all over the Mediterranean area, with 67 different therapeutic uses. Among them the 22 uses, already mentioned by Dioscurides, show that the utilization of "mints" as herbal medicines in the Mediterranean countries has a long tradition.