Systematic and medicinal reasoning in Mitla folk botany

This paper reviews cognitive, symbolic, systematic botanical, and biochemical bases of plant classification, and analyzes their interrelationships in the medicinal folk botany of Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico. It evaluates the "pharmacological wisdom" of the local population, along with their symbolic use of the environment, to show how they construct medicinal plant classifications which follow a folk logic, but often conform as well to modern botanical classifications based on the principles of systematic botany or chemistry. Working from both the chemical data and the folk categories, the analysis suggests the local Zapotec population systematically selected plants which foam for symbolic reasons to treat illnesses of the "soul" and identifies their underlying chemical constituents and medicinal qualities. Other correspondences between chemical, medicinal and reputed folk qualities are also suggested.