Background:

Scientific research about traditional basketry of Andalusia was carried for first time at the beginning of the 21st century and from an ethnobotanical perspective.

Questions:

Which plants have been used for basketry and what for? Have they always been the same? What do we know about them and to what extent? Has the traditional knowledge of species for basketry changed in the areas of Andalusia in the period between both millennia? Are they still valid? Where and why?

Studied species:

Basketry Flora.

Study site and dates:

Andalusia, Spain: 1989-2020.

Methods:

Information about knowledge and uses of plants for basketry was obtained through opened and semiestructured interviews to local inhabitants for a long time. Data analysis was carried out with ethnobotanical indexes: ethnobotanicity of basketry ethnoflora (EIBi), basketry ethnofloristic use of ethnoflora (BEUEi) and traditional basketry ethnoflora (BEi).

Results:

We registered 172 vascular plant species and their uses for basketry in Andalusia. Continuity of uses, knowledge and lexic based on active and passive data from the informants was found. The ethnobotanical indexes here proposed for basketry (EIBi, BEUEi, BEi) allowed us to discover knowledge reservoirs and set levels of continuity and loss of knowledge between 1989 and 2020.

Conclusions:

A high number of species have a potential use for basketry in Andalusia. Traditional knowledge is only valid for some of them and it suffers from increasing erosion. The COVID-19´s consequences predict a worse outcome.

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