This is a presentation given at the 2015 meeting of the Society for Economic Botany. Abstract: In 1969, Galt and Galt conducted an ethnobotanical survey [1] in the community of Khamma on the circum-Sicilian volcanic island of Pantelleria, located 67 km from the Tunisian coast. Since then, a number of botanical studies concerning the local wild flora and cultivation of the zibebo grape and capers have been conducted, but none have investigated traditional ecological knowledge regarding the use of wild plants and fungi. Here, 45 years later, we revisit this topic, examining the current day knowledge and practices concerning wild plants and fungi on the island. A total of 42 in-depth interviews were conducted in June 2014 in six communities. All interviews were conducted in person in Italian with prior informed consent. We employed two primary means of eliciting responses concerning traditional practices; informants were asked to: 1) free-list the most commonly used plants for wild foods, general medicine, and skin remedies; and 2) view and discuss a booklet composed of photos of taxa listed in the Galt study. A total of 86 botanical and 19 fungal taxa representing 54 families were cited by the study participants. While many plant-based traditions have disappeared from daily practice, especially those related to traditional fishing and hunting, they remain in the memories of the eldest subset of the population. For example, one of the most pervasive species in the landscape, Opuntia ficus-indica, has current day uses that persist (e.g., food source and shade source for cultivated vegetables), but its past applications were much more diverse, and included manipulation into hunting snares for birds. Other predominant flora included a number of Euphorbia spp., whose toxic latex was regularly used as a fish poison. Fungi, on the other hand, represent an important source of wild food today, and are widely recognized and regularly consumed. In conclusion, we have found that traditional e knowledge remains important to everyday practices of Pantescans, ranging in applications from wild foods, agricultural tools, and traditional medicines.

1. Ethnobotanical uses of wild
flora and fungi on the
circum-Sicilian island of
Pantelleria, Italy
Cassandra L. Quave, Ph.D.
Emory University
Department of Dermatology
Center for the Study of Human Health
E-mail: cquave@emory.edu
Website: http://etnobotanica.us/
Twitter: @QuaveEthnobot
Alessandro Saitta, Ph.D.
Università di Palermo
Department of Agricultural and Forest
Sciences

2. Background and Study Site
• 1969 – Galt & Galt (Econ. Bot.) conducted an ethnobotanical study in
Khamma
• 45 years later, we investigate how TEK and practice has changed

3. Specchio di Venere

6. Pantescan Gardens

7. Olive groves

8. Zibibbo grapes: passito wine

9. Caperi
Capparis spinosa subsp. rupestris (Sm.) Nyman, Capparaceae

10. Lactic-acid
fermentation
of the flower
buds in salt to
make capers!

11. Methods
• PIC of community governance
and individuals
• 42 informants
▫ age ranged from 28-90, with a
median age of 64 and gender
distribution of 59.5% male and
40.5% female
• Free-listing and semi-structured
interviews complemented with a
booklet composed of photos of
28 fungi and 93 plants
• Data analysis based on
informant consensus factor,
free-listing percent measure,
fidelity levels, and use-value
citation index

12. Results
• Galt and Galt (1978) documented 107 specific uses of
local botanical taxa
• Of these, 45 were not quoted by any informants in
our 2014 survey, representing a loss of 42% of the
uses documented 45 years ago
• An additional 235 specific uses of local flora and
fungi were recorded in the present work, which were
not included in the original study.
• A total of 95 plant taxa and 17 fungal taxa,
representing 44 and 9 plant and fungal families,
respectively, were cited by the study participants.
• Data on 2,124 use citations were collected,
representing a total of 297 distinct sets of communal
knowledge regarding specific taxa

13. Informant Consensus Factor
𝐹𝑖𝑐 =
𝑁 𝑢𝑐 − 𝑁𝑡
𝑁 𝑢𝑐 − 1
• Nuc : total number of use citations in each category
• Nt : number of taxa used in that category
• High Fic values (near 1.0) are obtained when one or
a few species are reported to be used by a large
proportion of informants for a particular category,
whereas lower Fic values indicate that informants
disagree over which taxa to use

14. Informant consensus on use of plants & fungi
Category of Local Use
Number of
Taxa
Number of Use
Reports
Informant’s Consensus
Factor (Fic)
Food 52 795 0.936
Household 41 497 0.919
Maritime 9 55 0.852
Nuisance 22 160 0.868
Ethnoveterinary 29 275 0.898
Dermatological 17 88 0.816
Gastrointestinal 12 137 0.919
General health 8 29 0.750
Musculoskeletal & Neurological 7 23 0.727
Oral health 1 2 1.000
Otolaryngological & Respiratory 5 7 0.333
Urological 7 56 0.891
Total 210 2124

15. Basket weaving for Agricultural & Fishing Tools

16. Daphne gnidium L., Thymelaeaceae

17. Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. ,
Cactaceae
“ficcund’india” ;“prickly pear”;
“indian fig”
Food, medicine and hunting tool!

18. Malva arborea (L.) Webb & Berthel.

19. Conclusions
• TEK concerning wild foods, household uses and
ethnoveterinary applications is widespread
• Wild plants and fungi still collected and eaten
• Knowledge, but not practice, of historic
maritime applications (e.g. fish poisons, boat
construction, fiber dyes)
• Loss of detail in plants used in spiritual healing
(e.g. use of Ruta chalapensis)

20. Acknowledgments
• Funding support provided Emory University Center for
the Study of Human Health.
• We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the
Commune of Pantelleria and all Pantescan communities
and people who agreed to participate in this study.
• We also thank Marco Caputo for assistance with field
collection of voucher specimens.