South american medicinal plants in jesuit documents: The “phytological observations…” by Gaspar Juárez and Filippo Gilii (1789-1792)

Abstract

Interest is currently growing in Jesuit bibliography as a source of information on medicinal plants. One of the first steps is to taxonomically identify the plants involved. The objective of this work is to identify de South American medicinal plants from the “Phytological observations…” of Juárez and Gilii, discuss the identifications presented by the authors and compare with those of other Jesuit studies. The framework of historical ethnobotany was used for the analysis of the aforementioned work. The plants were identified using various scientific publications. 17 ethnotaxa were surveyed, corresponding to 20 botanical species and two genera that comprise several species (Bromelia and Psidium), included in 13 botanical families. The identifications are consistent in most cases. In others, they correspond to a group of species (plant complex). Some of the local names do not correspond to the species described and identified.