J Pharm Pharmacol. 2003 Feb; 55(2): 259-70.

Pharmaceutical ethnobotany in the Montseny biosphere reserve (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula). General results and new or rarely reported medicinal plants.

Bonet MA, VallÃ¨s J.

Laboratori de BotÃ nica, Facultat de FarmÃ cia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in the massif of Montseny, which is situated in north-east Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula), covers 826 km(2) and has a population of 80 000. From 1993 to 2000 we interviewed 180 people and collected ethnobotanical information about 351 medicinal plants, with 4023 use-reports. Through comparison with a large set of studies, we detected 501 unreported or uncommon uses that corresponded to 201 plant species, 57 of which had never or very rarely been cited as medicinal or toxic. General results and key findings on the plant ethnopharmacology (number of medicinal plants, modes of consumption, types of illnesses treated) of this area are presented here, together with information on new or rarely reported medicinal plants.