Medicinal and useful plants in the tradition of Rotonda, Pollino National Park, Southern Italy

BACKGROUND: This paper reports an ethnobotanical survey of the traditional uses of medicinal and useful plants in an area of the Pollino National Park, Basilicata, Southern Italy. The study, conducted between 2009 and 2010, gathered information on the medicinal plants traditionally used in the neighbourhood of town of Rotonda, in the Pollino National Park, that appears have very rich and interesting ethnopharmacological traditions. METHODS: In all, we interviewed 120 key informants, whose age ranged between 50 and 95 years. RESULTS: The research resulted to the identification of 78 medicinal plants belonging to 46 families. Among the species reported, 59 are used in human medicine, 18 for domestic use, 8 in veterinary medicine. Several plants have been reported in previous studies, but with different uses, or never reported. CONCLUSIONS: Data obtained showed that in the studied area the folk use of plants is alive and still derives from daily practice.