Abstract

MARTINEZ-CORTES, Magali; MANZANERO-MEDINA, Gladys Isabel  and  LUSTRE-SANCHEZ, Hermes. The useful succulent plants of Santo Domingo Tonala, Huajuapan, Oaxaca, Mexico. Polibotánica [online]. 2017, n.43, pp.321-348. ISSN 1405-2768.  https://doi.org/10.18387/polibotanica.43.14.

It was made a ethnobotanical study of succulent plants in Santo Domingo Tonala, Oaxaca. The field work consisted of monthly courses for a year, to places where there is presence of these plants; to learn about their use and traditional management, structured interviews (two events) were applied to 20 key employees; subsequently it conducted the analysis of the main ethnobotanical data using the ethnographic method of free listed index and value in use. They were recorded 44 species of useful succulent plants, including six botanical families: Cactaceae, Agavaceae, Nolinaceae, Crassulaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Fouquieriaceae; which stands Cactaceae, therefore the number of species as assigned applications. Of a total of 21 categories of use, the main ones were edible, ornamental and medicinal; while the main form of management is the collection of plants in the natural vegetation. Because of the wide variety of uses for the succulent plants are used, a group with great potential becomes, and as an alternative for sustainable use by the communities; however, it is necessary to conduct studies that provide information on cups extraction of the species and the current status of their populations. There is a crisis of loss of plant species and disappearance of knowledge about their use and management. In Santo Domingo Tonala a number of useful succulent plants identified, therefore, this region is a priority for designing strategies that contribute to the conservation of these vegetable resources and the rescue and assessment of traditional knowledge.

Keywords : succulents plants; uses; traditional knowledge; cultural value.