Ethnobotany, or the study of the relationship of plants and 

 primitive societies, has played a significant role in the Museum's 

 economic botany programme. During the past fifty years, inten- 

 sive ethnobotanical studies have been carried forth, especially in 

 tropical America. These have encompassed field and laboratory 

 investigations in ethnopharmacology, ethnoecology, ethnomy- 

 cology and archaeoethnobotany, concentrating particularly in 

 the study of medicinal, narcotic and toxic plants. The investiga- 

 tions have been carried out primarily in Mexico, Colombia, 

 Ecuador, Brazil and Peru, although the research in ethnomycol- 

 ogy has been much wider. 



Since the 1930's, one of the specialized branches of ethno- 

 botany that has been seriously pursued is ethnomycology — the 

 relationship of fungi and human affairs. Research in this field 

 has been carried out in the United States, Mexico, Japan, India, 

 and Europe. 



The Museum's facilities in archaeoethnobotany — the study of 

 archaeological plant remains and their significance to both plant 

 evolution and man's social and cultural evolution — have at- 

 tracted scholars from far and wide. The research in archaeoeth- 

 nobotany has been especially focused on Peru and Mexico, 

 particularly on specific crop plants such as maize, including the 

 origins of agriculture in these countries. This effort has led to the 

 creation of an extensive study collection of archaeological plant 

 remains, one of the few in the United States, and to the publica- 

 tion of significant books and articles in this neglected field. 

 Recent research on vegetal remains in Egyptian, Peruvian and 

 Aleutian mummies has been a novel undertaking of the Ethno- 

 botanical Laboratory. 



The most recent development has been the initiation of active 

 effort in conservation in cooperation with the World Wildlife 

 Fund. An Ethnobotany Specialist Group has been set up to 

 bring together ethnobotanists from around the world in the real- 

 ization that folklore concerning plants and their uses is fast 

 disappearing with the encroachment of civilization. This pro- 

 gramme is a logical extension of the Museum's longstanding 

 ethnobotanical activities. 



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