"Cow Healers Use It for Both Horses and Cattle"

Masterwort, Peucedanum ostruthium (L.) Koch, is an Apiaceae species originally native to the mountain areas of central and southern Europe. Written sources show that it was used in northern Europe. This study explores the cultivation history of masterwort and its past use in Sweden. Although only fe...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: de Vahl, Erik, Mattalia, Giulia|||0000-0002-1947-7007, Svanberg, Ingvar|||0000-0002-8378-7923
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:299039
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/299039
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3390/plants12010116
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cultural relict plants
Herbal remedies
Historical ethnobotany
Living biocultural heritage
Silvopastoral system
Descripción
Sumario:Masterwort, Peucedanum ostruthium (L.) Koch, is an Apiaceae species originally native to the mountain areas of central and southern Europe. Written sources show that it was used in northern Europe. This study explores the cultivation history of masterwort and its past use in Sweden. Although only few details are known about the history of this taxon, it represents a cultural relict plant of an intentionally introduced species known in Sweden as early as the Middle Ages. In Sweden, the masterwort was mainly used as an ethnoveterinary herbal remedy from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. However, medicinal manuals, pharmacopoeias and some ethnographical records indicate that it was once also used in remedies for humans. Today, this species remains as a living biocultural heritage in rural areas, especially on the surviving shielings, which were once used as mountain pastures in Dalecarlia, and at former crofts that were inhabited by cattle owners in the forest areas of southern Sweden.