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MEMOIUEVolume Xx)ilil - Fascicolo I

della Societa Italianqdi Scienze Naturalie clel Museo CivicQ

di Storia Naturale di Milano

WIL.DLIFE AND PLAI\TSIN. TRADITIOI\AL AND MODERN TIBE|T:C ONCEPTI OI{S, EXPL OI TATIO I\T AND C OI{ ÍiERVATION

Edited byALBSSANDRO BOESI & FRANCESCA C.UI.RDI

]}TILANO MARiíO 2OO5

Pag.

Pag.

J

5

t9Pag

33

49

59

69

Pag

Pag,

Pag.

Pag.

ToniAnte

uberhunting in northern Tibet,

DanYartecorfunp

cul I adaptation to wildlife ecology

CardiE ion of Tibetan medical knowledge in the

socl context: the exploitation of medicuralplan among traditional doctors

ndro Boesiknowledge among Tibetaa populations

L For.d I'ffiaTseriagitv conssrvation and natural tesource

ion on Tibet's nortlwest Chang Tang highlands

Schdler, Li Zhi,Wang Hao, and Su Tieife and nornads in the eastern

Tang Reserve, Tibet

WinklerGunbu - Cordyceps sinensis:

ecology & ethno-mycology of a

endemic to the Tibetan plateau

notes of contributors Pag. 8"1

Società Italiana di Scienze NaturaliMuseo Civico di Storia NaturaleCorso Venezia, 55 - 20121 Milano

InLi

na: Drawing of a Tibetan medicinal plant (spang rgyan sngon po, Gentiana spp.) made by a Tibetan arttst,

(Sichuan, China), 1999 (from the authors'collection).

Reg al tribunale di Milano al n. 6694

responsabile: Anna Alessandrellosabile di redazione: Stefania Nosottieditoriale: P.R.G.

Litografia Solari, Peschiera Borromeo -

Gra

Marzo 2005 ISSN 0376-2726

Alessandro Boesi

knowledge among Tibetan populations

a

I:

I

Abstract - This article is an research into traditional Tibetan plant knowledge and represents the first detailed study of thiscarried out up to now. The plant world is presented from the local Tibetan perspective. The first part is devoted to examining the Tibetanofplant and the relationship betweenthree aspects of the plant classificati

and other matters. Plant life and vegetation according to Tibetans are also analysed. In the second part,process are examined: identification, denomination, and inclusion in a reference system. The last

devoted to plant exploitation and a between present and past exploitation is presented. Owing to the recent political, cultural, andeconomic transformations of Tibetan there is a serious risk of a definitive loss of the Tibetan botanical knowledge in the near future. Thisnomenon has already occurred several Tibetan communities. The data have been obtained during a research project on ethnobotanyethnopharmacology of Tibetan speaki populations, undertaken by the author from I 998 to 2002 in different regions of the Tibetan cultural area:Litang County (Sichuan, China), the of Baragaon (Mustang District, central Nepal), Khumbu (Solu-Khumbu District, East Nepal)Dhorpatan (Baglung District, central

Riassunto - La conoscenza del vegetale tra le popolazioni tibetaneQuest' articolo documenta una efrografica sulle conoscenze botanibhe tradizionali dei tibetani e rappresenta il primo studio dettagli

quest'argomento. Il mondo vegetale è dal punto di vista dei tibetani. Nella prima parte è analizzato il concetto tibetano di vegetalerelazioni esistenti tra le piante e le entità presenti nell'ambiente. Sono esaminate anche la vita delle piante ed i caratteri della vesetazionedo i tibetani. La seconda parte è all'analisi dei tre aspetti del processo d'orgatizzazione della diversità vegetale: identificazione,nazione e inserimento in un sistema riferimento. La parte conclusiva è dedicata all'analisi dello sfruttamento dei vegetali confrontandoimpiego passato e presente. A causa recenti mutamenti politici, culturali, e socio-economici, esiste un serio rischio che le conoscenzetibetane sul mondo vegetale si esti definitivamente entro breve tempo. Questo fenomeno è già stato documentato in alcune comunitàI dati sono stati raccolti nel corso di progetto di ricerca sull'etnobotanica e I'etnofarmacologia delle popolazioni di lingua e cultura tibetana,dotto dall'autore tra il 1998 edil2002Nepal centrale), Khumbu (Distretto di

diverse regioni tibetane: la Contea di Litang (Sichuan, Cina), le regioni di Baragaon @istretto diumbu, Nepal orientale) e Dhorpatan (Distretto di Baglung, Nepal centrale).

INTRODUCTION

Before analysing Tibetan pl knowledge, it is essential shared by all Tibetans and are based on both theto show which is the place of in the Tibetan percep- tion of the natural world and the relationshiption and classification of substances. Although adistinction between the knowl of educated (chiefly a

I doctors) and non-edu-portion ofthe clergy and traditi which pieces may be selected ad libitum andcated Tibetans has to be made,the attribution ofthe status ofdo not influence the general items of natural obiects" which

conceptrons, except into arbitrary cultural categories. Rather, groups of plaand animals present themselves to the human observerseries of discontinuities whose sffucture and content

shared by all Tibetans. seen by all human beings in essentially the sameAfter the introduction of ism in Tibet from the This latter process is based on perception, mainly vi

VII century onwards, some Indshared by all Buddhist traditior

philosophical theories of the groups of substances which share similararrived in the "land of (morphological, biological, orgarization in the

snows". The elemental theoryofthe "sentient being" are the

the matter and the notion etc.). These kinds of classifications are instinctiimportant for this sub--known among learned

devised, because the same natural substancesject. The above conceptrons are themselves as separate entities. However, during t

fieldwork it came clearly out that natural diversitv mavTibetans. Yet, even if in a less way, the distinc-tion between sentient beinss and -sentient beings is also organized in other ways as on the basis of plant culknown at the popular level. conception is crucial in importance and use. I will show categories such as

inal, edible plants, and religious plant offerings.Tibet, since it has a significant t on human life. inparticular as far as the Buddhi

ient being" to matters,and classification svs-

principle that does notis concerned.

at the basis of the con-f natural substances are

man and environment. As Berlin (1992:9) suggests,world of nature cannot be viewed as a continuum

In short, there are two types of classification,based on physical perception ofrealiry the other onhral\technical impact. These two types of classificati

allow the killins of sentient beiNon-learned criteria that

ception and the classification should not be considered as independent, but they

I

uded in a complex system. Tibetans, as most of thelations called "non-modern"r. do not consider a plant

natural object of its own, as modern scientific classifi-Ltion does" thev also see it in reference to the environ-

to man and to his activities. That is why plants mayincluded in catesories that are devised on the basis of

fferent criteria at the same time. That is the case of the

When Tibetans give a list of natural objects, they usu-ly tend to group together the ones that have similar or

ical features. Three main groups may be distin-ished: the first includes earths (sa), stones (rdo),rocks

), and the minerals extracted from them @ter).Theincludes woody plants (shing sdong), woody

imbers ('khri shing), grasses (rtswa), flowers (me tog),mushrooms (sha mo). The third group includes ani-(dud 'gro) and human beings (rzi). Several inform-

(mostly learned people) in different regions employsame expressions "living beings" (srog chags) andLtient beings" (sems can)3 to connote both men and

ls indistinctively. The designation "sentient beings"

Fieldwork data showed that as in other human popula-around the world, the categories occupying the hier-

hical rank of "kingdom" are not designated.hnobiologists name these groupings, which also occurother hierarchical levels, "covert categories" (Berlin e/

, 1968)4. So far, in the common Tibetan language noas the English terms "plan|" and "plant kingdom"

employed. Yet, some recent dictionaries (bKra shisring & Li'u te cun, 1988: 737; Goldstein, 1986: 328)

ign the meaning of "plant" to the terms rtsi shing andrigs. The expression rtsi shing is not used in the

inary language, being a literary appellation.itionally, it only designates fruit trees. The term sngodoes not point out a plant category being used to

ignate the presence of green and tender organs onts which are either herbaceous or woody. Another

sometimes employed in the same way as sngo byn people is ldum bu6.The dictionary Tshig mdzod

mo (Krang dbyi sun, 1998: 1454) suggests the fol-ing definition: o'general term equal to sngo, which

all edible and non edible herbaceous plants". Inlast decades the use of the expression slqte dngos leyi

, oocategory of the matter that grows", has been

taxon (category) named rtswa2, "grasses", which isdefined by most Tibetans as including the plants havingsmall and narrow leaves growing directly from the soiland which cattle, sheep and goats eat. Ethnobiologistsdesignate these types of categories "complex taxa" (seeFriedberg, 1997 I2).

is the only one used at the popular level.Among the criteria of classification of natural objects,

the distinction between sentient beings and non-sentientbeings is very important owing to its influence on the life ofTibetan people. The first group includes all the objectswhich have a thought process (sems) or consciousness(rnam shes); the second includes all other kinds of matterthat do not have it. As shornn above, the beings having a con-scious principle are also called srog chags (literally:"formed with life"). Hence, a strong connection is seen toexist between the conscious principle (sems) and the notionof life (srog). The second group has not a name of its orn'n

and the informants simply deny the state of "sentient being".

spreading among traditional doctors, owing to the influ-ence of some modern texts of Tibetan pharmacopoeia(see Karma chos 'phel, 1993).

Notwithstanding the absence of a term designating thewhole plants, the existence of such a "covert category" maybe demonstrated through the evaluation of the common fea-fures that, according to the informants, show their con-stituents. As concems the categories of grasses (rtswa),flow-ers (me /og), woody plants (shing sdong), woody climbers('khri shing), and mushrooms (sha mo)1, educated and non-educated informants of various regions describe some differ-ences of morphological, biological and ecological order as

well as several common features such as the same "intrinsicnature" (ngo bo)8: born from the ground, fixed to it by means

ofunderground organs, grov/ up in the air or in the water. Theaffinities among these taxa may also be corroborated throughthe analysis of the terms commonly employed to representthem. As a malter of fact, they are described using a specificsimilar terminology. Underground organs and stems are con-stantly designated rtsa ba and sdong po. Apart from the

mushrooms, which exhibit a simple morphology, the termi-nology employed to point out the different organs of the other

catesories is the same.

THE OBJECTS OF THE TIBETAN ENVIRONMENT

ALESSANDRO BOESì

PLANTS

is also valid for the societies called "modern", where "non-modern" elements subsist.er Tibetan spellings are given according to the Vr'ylie (1959) system oftransliteration (minus the hyphen in between syllables).lly: "having a conscious principle".taxa may occur at any hierarchical level of ethnobiological classifications

point out that in Tibetan medicine the term szgo connotes a category of medicinal plants (szgo sman), which is worked out on the basis of mor-rgical, biological, and environmental features (Boesi, 2004: 251-258).term ldum is employed in Tibetan medicine to designate a category of medicinal plants (ldum sman) devrsed as the one of sngo sman, mentioned

the above footnote.re categories, which constitute the "plant forms", will be analysed at the end of the section devoted to classification.term ngo óo designates the intrinsic feahrres of a thing. It may be a natural object as a tree, an organ of it (the fi:uits) or a category such as the

. It is used mostlv bv learned Tibetans.

Plants are not living beings

Tibetan people do not consider plants as living beings,because they don't have a conscious pinciple (rnamsftes). According to learned informants, death is a processthat implies at the same time the cessation of the con-sciousness and of the faculty of feeling, the interruptionof the respiration and the loss of bodily heat. Theseparameters cannot be described for plant death. As a mat-ter of fact, a17 Tibetans designate the death of sentientbeings by the term shi ba, whlle the death of plants isdescribed by the term "to dry" (skr'm po 'gro ba).

Plant properties and the elemental theory of the matter

Learned informants as monks and traditional doctorsexplain the different features and qualities ofplants andof all types of substances (natural and non-natural) inrelation to the elemental theory of the malte1 whicharrived in Tibet through Buddhism and its related disci-plines as medicine (ayurveda) from the VII centuryonwards. This cosmological theory of Indian originexplains the foundation and the intrinsic nature of anymatter of the universe. According to it, all matters arecomposed of five elements ('byung ba lnga): earth (sa),waler (chu), fke (me), wind (rlung), and space (nammkha'). The five elements are the fundamental con-stituents of all substances and they are responsible of alltheir features and qualities. The element earth gives sup-port and firmness, the element water is responsible ofaggregation and cohesion, fire generates heat and deter-mines the ripening process, wind generates movementand space allows the growing of all substances. The dif-ferent features and qualities of each substance are deter-mined by the rate of composition of the five elements. Asfar as plants are concerned" the scent of a flower, theshape ofa leaf, the height ofa tree, the curatives proper-ties of a plant or of one of its organs may be explainedreferring to the elemental theory of the matter. Anotherimportant property of the five elements is that they areresponsible of all transformation processes occurring insubstances. This property is called "action ofthe five ele-ments" ('byung ba lnga gi las).

Plant life

Most Tibetans (educated and non-educated) describetwo diflerent types of plant formation: the springing upfrom the seed and from the roots. The term employed todesignate the arising process of all plants is in all casesslrye ba ("to be born"). According to informants, the

PLANT KNOWLEDGE AMONG TIBETAN POPULATIONS

majority of the plants propagate producing fruitsseeds. Learned informants affirm that dry fruits ('brasskam po) at the end of summer and in autumn fall toground. The seeds held by fruits have all the(nus pa)'that allow the development of new plant(underground organs, stems, leaves, flowers, etc.).in early spring ground and air temperature rise, seedsefit from the heat. They absorb soil humiditv andtheir firm (brtan po) state. At the beginning, the seedincreases (sa bon 'phel), then the underground(rtsa) starts springing up and eventually the new(myu gu) grows (slqte). As concerns the majorityplants, their potencies move upwards during springsummer and downwards durins autumn. Inwhen leaves are fully open, the potencies areed in them. In the same way, they shift to the flowersthey have bloomed. As soon as flowers start withering,potencies move to the centre of them, whercthe ze 'located. A traditional doctor from Litang (Li thang)affirmed that it contains the 'oseed of theorgan" (rtsa ba'i sa bon) and that in this portionalready a principle (rgyu)'o which determines thetion of the underground organs of a new plant.fruit has ripened, the potencies are concentrated in it,later the plant dries (skam po 'gro).

Other plants do not completely dry at the onset of wter, but their potencies shift to the undergroundand, as it happens in woody plants (shing sdong), alsotheir stems (sdong po). The potencies remain inorgans in a firm state until the next spring without lositheir features, being protected by the thick skin(qtags

Mushrooms don't completely dry because theytain their potencies in the underground parts anddon't produce fruits and seeds. According toinformants from Litang, mushrooms usually thrive insoil (sa brlan pa), but their occurrence is affected by"necessity of combining factors"". These conditionscern weather and soil features: mushrooms "are bornthe soil [when] there are dry dung, wet soil, rain andproper time."12

The process of plant coming up and growingexplained referring to the elemental theory of thewhich also determines these processes in man and aniSeveral learned informants, and in particular a tradidoctor from Khyungpo" (Khyung po) in east Tibet,described the role and the task carried out by the fivements in plant transformations. The element earth isto plant existence, because it represents the qualitiesgive base and solidity to al1 matters. The elementabsorbed by the plant and by the seed, gives moistureelement fire gives the heat coming from the sun and

e The term "potency" (nus pa) points out the action that a substance may originate by means of its features and qualities. In Tibetan medicine texpression designates both particular qualities ofmedicinal substances, which constitute their therapeutic properties (the eight nus pa), and their tapeutic effect. (Boesi, 2004: 48-50).\0 rGyu'. "catsal factor", "primary cause".1t Cha rlqten 'dzom dgos.12 Bud shing dang sa brlan pa dang char pa dang dus tshod nges can sa 'og n slqte gi yod red /.The term bud shing is commonly employed to designate firewood and in particular the small branches gathered to light a fire. Nevertheless, accing to our informants of Litang, this term may also be employed in a larger sense to indicate yak dry dung, which is regularly employed as a fuel.Tibetan-English dictionary Chandra Das (1992: 873) suggests the same meaning.'3 The region of Khyungpo is located in the eastern part of Tibetan Autonomous Region, in Tengchen (sTeng chm) County.

warming. The element wind determines all move-and therefore the growth of the plant.

Educated people say that the five elements, and in par-lar their potencies, also determine plant size. Certain

such as fir (thang shingla, Abies spp.), have "biging potencies" (slcye stabs lqti nus pa chen po), oth-

as a rhododendron shrub. sur dkar" (Rhododendronp.) have intermediate ('bring) potencies, and others, as

herbaceous plants (rtswa) and all mushrooms (sfra

), have small (chung) potencies. Altitude and tempera-are other factors affecting plant size: all informantsÍhat at a low altitude plants usually attain bigger sizeat high altitude. A drop in temperature at high alti-causes a decrease ofthe plant growing process.

The growth and the size attained by cefain plants maybe affected by other plants growing near by. These plantsitute mutual helpers and are called "assistants" (rogs

). A traditional doctor from Litang has mentioned the plantsur nag (Rhododendron sp.). It attains a bigger size

when it benefits of a good soil and when willows (lcangSalix sp.) andtsher matu shrubs thrive near by.

ALESSANDRO BOESI

VEGETATION GROUPINGS

According to all informants, plants cannot thrive inany environmental setting, but only under fixed condi-tions related to climate, altitude, exposition, soil, andother factors. In particular, they distinguish sunny sides(nyin) and, shady sides (srib) of the mountains. A plantwhich grows on one side may quite often not grow on theother. Sunny slopes are waÍner and drier and usuallyallow the growing of less abundant vegetation than shadyslopes, which, being colder and wetter, have lush vegeta-tion. According to Litang informants, some plants, suchas mdzo mo snq khrag (Androsace strigillosa) and mgo regya re (Stellera chamejasme), need solar heat to grow andare common on sunny slopes, others, as ut pal sngon po(Meconopsis grandis?) and dbyar rtswa dgun 'bu"(Cordyceps sinensis) are harmed by it and grow on shadyslopes. Others, such as tsher sngon (Meconopsis horuidu-la) may thrive on both the mountainsides. Besides, thedistinction may concern plants growing on high and lowaltitudes (sa cha mtho po, sa cha dma'po), on wet and drysoils (sa cha rlon pa, sa cha skam po), and on differenttypes of meadows (spang nag, spang rgod)'".

Tibetan people living traditionally have a good knowl-of plant distribution in the environment. They

ibe a few vegetation groupings and several zonesparticular features, which are designated through

specific terminology. Sometimes, the presence of cer-in plants may be evaluated as an essential characteristicthat area. The distinction of these groupings may be

employed as a reference system in the territory.The most important vegetation groupings are: forestsing nags), meadows (tpong), and wet meadows (na).

are usually described on the basis of the followingdominating plant form, soil features, and

ics of the plants thrivine on it.

(shing nags)

The expressions shing nags andnags (forests) gener-y designate all types of forests whereas the name nags

(big forests) points out the forests characterised bywoody plants (shing sdong chen po). Forests, in par-lar thick forests (shing nags mthug po), mainly thrive

the lower areas called rong,which are characterised byand narrow valleys (lung pa chen po),bigrivers (chu

n po), snowy mountains (gangs ri), good soils (sa yag), warm temperature (tsha ba), usually a good amountprecipitation (char pa mang po), and the presence of

farmers (zhing pa).In the Litang County pine (sgron meshing) forests, juniper-cypress (súag pa) forests, fir(thang shing) forests, and oak (be do) forests are commonin these lower valleys'e.

According to informants of Litang, forests also growon the byang thang ("northern plain"), but the size ofwoody plants is usually smaller. The term byang thangproper$ designates the high regions (mostly above 4,500meters) located in north and north-western Tibet, but it iscommonly employed to point out all areas of highplateau, characterised by flat valleys covered with grass(rtswa thang), where nomads keep their livestock andagriculture is not possible.

Pastoralists of the Litang County also distinguish a typeofforest which is spread both at high and low altitude andwhich consists of many thick small woody plants (shingsdong chung chung). According to the local dialect, it isnamed nags this ("forest this") or phu this'o.The expressionphu this (trthu,"the upper part ofa sloping valley") proba-bly indicates that this vegetation grouping grows at highaltitude. The informants mention several woody plants,which are shrubs, as sur nag (Rhododendron sp.) and surdkar (Rhododendron sp.), spen nag (Dasiphora fruticosa),shug pa (Juniperus sp., Cupressus sp.), mdzo mo shing(Caragana erinacea), khyi shing (Lonicera thibetica), andtshar leb (Cotoneaster sp.). Tsampa Nawan (gTsang pa

designation thang shing also corresponds to Pinus in central Tibet and in some Tibetan regions ofNepal.term sur dkar ("white sur") rs commonly employed in east Tibet to designate a type of sur ru with aromatic white flowers, which corresponds

a species of Rhododendror. I point out that in central Tibet and Nepal the name ba lu dkar po ("white ba /2") is employed.ing to the informant, the term tsher ma designates a woody thorny plant, which I did not observe on the field

sinensis is, according to modern science, an entomophagous fungus parasitizing the larvae of a moth of the genus Thitarodes. Differently,people regard it as a plant. In particular, they perceive rhe dbyar rtswa dgun 'bu ("stmmer grass-winter worm") as a shgle substance, which

g winter lives as a worn ('bu) andthat, after undergoing a metamorphosis on passing from spring to srunmer, changes into a kind of gruss (rtswa)2003:32).

the next paragraph for an explanation of the terms spang nag and spang sgoso-called rong areas correspond to the lower valleys mostly located below 3,500 metres, which are quite common in south and east Tibet.the transliterations are given according to my informants.

PLANT KNOWLEDGE AMONG TIBETAN POPULATIONS

ngag dbang), a traditional doctor from Baragaon (centralNepal), names nags phran ("liule forests") the forests char-acterised by low woody plants.

Meadows Gpsng)

Tibetan people regard meadows as fundamentalbecause they represent the most important source of ener-gy, which allows them to carry out most activities.Meadows are crucial for cattle, sheep, and goat breeding;several plants growing on them are employed as medicineand food others are sold on local markets or have a cul-tural value; turfis used to build houses and fences.

The term spang ("meadows", "grassland") is a gener-al expression designating all types of meadows, usuallydominated by grasses (rtswa) and with a fluctuating num-ber of flowers (me /og). Its soil is black in colour (sa nagpo).Many informants in different regions distinguish twotypes of spang: the former is called spang nag ("blackmeadows", "darlrJl meadows"). At Litang the designationsngo nag ("dark herbaceous vegetation") is alsoemployed. Sometimes, the term spqng implicitly refers tospang nag. This type of spang has the following features:good soft (mnyen po) soil, abundant lush grass (rtswa)and many flowering herbaceous plants (me rog). It ismostly spread at lower altitude (sa cha dma'po) and itgrows irregularly over high plateaus (byang thang). Someof the plants that commonly thrive on dark meadows nearLitang town are, according to informants, tsher sngon(Meconopsis horridula), lug mig (Aster flaccidus), khuyug me tog (Iris goniocarpa), ut pal ser po (trfieconopsisintegrifolia), ram bu (Polygonum viviparum), snya lo

Fig. 1 - Zla ba me tog, Ajuga lupulina Maxim., Batang County(Sichuan, China), 4,150 m, nearYidun, May 2000.

(Polygonum polystachyum), zla ba me tog (Ajugana) (Fig.1), and chu ma rtsi rgod pa (Rheum

The latter type of meadow is called spang rgod ("w[dmeadow"). It is very diffused over high plateaus and inticular on the mountains called spang ri ("meadowtains"), rolling hills entirely covered with herbaceoustation, which are very coflrnon in east Tibet. The soil ofwild meadows is hard (sra mo), grass is low and notflowers grow there. Litang informants regard bskalme tog (Androsace thibetica),lug ru dmar po (

przewalskii) (Fig. 2), and rta lpags (Lamiophlomisas plants frequently growing in these areas.

Wet meadows (za)

Wet meadows are characterised bv wet soil often soawith water, and by herbaceous vegetation includingdant grass and many flowering herbaceous plants, deby traditional doctors of Litang as "herbaceous plantswater" (chu gi rtswa)". So, the term na may be tra"wet meadows". Traditional doctors of Litans also a

that the "essential nature" (ngo b o) of the plantsthese areas is smooth ('jam po) and flexible (mnyen po).ru ser po (Pedicularis longiflora var tubifurmis), lugdmar po'3 (P. siphonanta), chu slryogs me tog (Primula simensis), ser chung me tog (Caltha scaposa) (called rtaby traditional doctors), and chu slqur (Rheumare some of the plants which are diffirsed in these areas.meadows may exhibit a flat or a very irregular ground, cacterised by many small humps caTledna thog ("top ofAmong these hummocks there stand small pools calledchu ("wafer of na"\.

Fig. 2 - Lug ru dmar po, Pedicularís przevvalskii Maxtm., Litang(Sichuan, China),4,100 m,near gNam sres mountain, June 1999.

" The meaning of nag rcfers in this case to the dark green colour which characterises the vegetation of this type of meadow" I point out that, according to traditional doctors, the meaning ofthe term rtswa is "herbaceous plants" and not only "grass"'?3 Two types of lug ru mar po thnve in Litang: one on "wild meadows" (spang rgod) and the other on "wet meadows" (za).

AI,ESSANDRO BOESI

THE ORGANIZATION OF PLANT DIVERSITY

In the so-called "traditional societies" there is noliberate will of classifizing natural objects, as in the

of modern scientific classification. So far, I point outinformants do not have anv interest in describins aification system in its entirety, which is a task of eth-

iologists. Ethnobiological classifications arise fromnecessity of recording and managing the natural:sity of the environment where populations live. Theiris to devise an organization, which is suitable to the

nt activities and situations characterisine human. Among Tibetan people, as among all human commu-

ies, the classification process of natural objects ison the recognition otl similarity and differences,

ich often refer not only to morphology, but also toplant features such as its environment of growth, its

te and smell, and its practical and cultural value.The classification process may be divided into three dif-

phases, which are strictly related, and whose tempo-succession is fl exible: iderrtification, denomination, andlusion in a reference system (Friedberg, 1986).

tification

archical levels. E.g., the examination of flower morphologyenables traditional doctors to distinguish the plants includ-ed in the taxoî me tog glang sna (Pedicularus spp.) fromthose included in the taxon lug ru (Pedicularis spp.). Asconcerns me tog glang sna, the observation of the minutefeatures of the flower is the fundamental criterion to distin-guish the different varieties of it. The flower of Pedicularis2ahas a corolla, which is two-lipped. The upper lip is hoodedand often prolonged into a beak, which may be slightly cir-cular or trunk shaped. Traditional doctors of the LitangCounty and other Tibetan areas identiff all species belong-ing to the genus Pedicularis in the same way, firstlyemploying the prototypical system, and secondly the com-ponential-conceptual system. After a rapid evaluation of thegeneral aspect ofthe plant, they proceed in its identificationexamining attentively the morphology of the flower, and inparticular its beak, which may be called hom (rwa, ru), ornose (sna), according to its shape. When the beak is slight-ly circular, it is called horn, and the plant is identifi ed as lugrut, "sheep's horn": the beak of the flower is associated withthe horn of a sheep. When the beak of the flower doesn'tbend on one side, but it bends directly forward, it looks likean elephant's trunk, according to practitioners, and the plantis included in another group called glang sna, whose mean-ing is "elephant's trunk". Traditional doctors recognise dif-ferent types of glang sna (Fig.3) according to morpholog-ical variations in flower size and position, and leaf position.

Plant identification systems in human societies haveanalysed by several scholars. These studies have

n that human populations basically employ two dis-systems of plant identifiLcation: the first one is calledot5rpical", the second "componential-conceptual"

1e86).The prototypical system, based on criteria of similarity,

the observer to recognize the plant and to give it aafter the observation of its seneral features. bv

ploying an ideal model which evokes and supports theromination. I point out that the ideal model is based onexperience, region oforigirn and education ofthe observ-

constitutes the most typical specimen of the class.The second system, the so-called componential-con-

I one, is based on the evaluation ofthe presence ofor several characteristics, which represent the neces-condition to recognize the plant. Therefore, this iden-tion process implies ther attentive analysis of specif-

features ofthe plant in ordler to recognize it.The prototypical system is usually the first one to be

; the two systems may be used at the same time orrapid succession. Field observations have shown that

people, in spite of their education, employ both theical and the componential-conceptual system in

t identification. The prototypical process is usually theone to be used and the observer often recognizes thet without a deliberate examination of it. As concernscomponential-conceptual system, only after attentivelymining the plant for some time, the informant is able to

se and name it. The minute observation of plantallows the observer to designate it with its complete

re, whilst the prototypical system may not be sufficienta complete identification, allowing him only to deter-

the basic name without its determinant. Certain plantare examined more and more into detail and mav Fig. 3 - Glang sna ser po, Pedicularís scullyana Prain ex Maxim.,

Mustang District (central Nepal), 4,360 m, near Jarkot, August 2001.employed as identification parameters at diflerent hier-

'icularis (lousewort) is an important genus of semi-parasitic plants, often conspicuous in the alpine zone all over the Tibetan plateau and thelayan Mountains.

PLANT KNOWLEDGE AMONG TIBETAN POPULATIONS

The componential-conceptual identification proceduretakes usually place as follows: the informant lays a hand onor pick a floweq a small branch or the entire plant and care-

fully evaluates its morphological features. He may also

analyse smell and taste, and observe the environment.The features examined are considered more or less impor-

tant forplant identification according to education, profession

and plant knowledge. Tibetans as most plant gatherers, plantmerchants, and in particular traditional doctors, as well as tra-

ditionally living people as nomads, herdsmen, and people ofremote areas, carry out the identification process not onlythrough the evaluation of plant morphology, but taking also

into account plant taste (Fig. 4), smell, and environment ofgrowth, parameters which are regarded as crucial.

Hairs and thorns are plant features often examined in the

identification process. Several plant types, as shug pa(Juniperus spp., Cupressus spp., Platycladus orientalis2s),

are recognized according to the presence (tsher ma can) orabsence of thorns (tsher ma med pa). The Sherpas (Shar pa)from Khumbu (east Nepal) identiff masculine (pho) andfeminine (mo) birch (stag pa) types observing bark colourand features. Several plant varieties are identified from the

colour of their flowers. E.g., according to most Tibetans, ba

/u includes two types of plant: the former, ba lu dkar po("white ba lu") (Rhododendron anthopogon), is recognizedfrom the white colour (and fragrance) of its flower, and the

latteg ba lu nag po ("black ldarkl ba lu") (R. lepidotum)'6

from the dark colour. According to traditional doctors,

spang rgyan ("meadow-ornament") includes three types ofplant, which are identified mainly by observing their flowercolour: deep blue inthe nag po (black) type, pale-blue in the

sngon po (blue) one, and whitish inthe dknr po (white) type.

Smell (dri ma) and taste (bro ba) are among the features

allowing the identification of the different types of wild gar-

lic (sgog pa).In Litang, the analysis of the taste of the under-ground part, which has to be sweet, is crucial to the identi-fication of ram bu rgod pa (Polygonum viviparum), an edi-ble plant. Another feature evaluated in order to confirm the

identification is the presence of latex ('o ma) and resin(thang chu) as found in thar nu (Euphorbia spp.) and'o ma

me tog (Taraxacum fficinale s.l.).

Friedberg (1986), a French ethnobiologist, says: "dansl'identification populaire, le lieu et le milieu où pousse laplante permettent déjà d'effectuer une sélection.Certaines espèces ont des ports si caractéristiques et orig-inaux qu'à partir d'un àge précoce aucun individu de lasociété ne peut se tromper". Among Tibetan populations,the examination of the environment is also important forplant identification. Educated and non-educated peopleknow very well that certain plants thrive at high altitude(sa cha mtho po) while others grow at lower ones (sa chadma'po), that some plants grow on wet ground (sa charlon pa) whilst others on dry one (sa cha skam po).

The distinction between the shady side (srib) and thesunny side (nyin) of the mountains is fundamental for theidentification. In fact, in the Tibetan perception of the

Fig. 4 - A traditional doctor analyses the taste of 'dzin pa zlaAconitum gymnandrum Maxim., Litang County (Sichuan,4,110 m, near Li thang sBom ra mottrúain, July 1999.

environment in general and" in particular, in the

cation of the plants, that differentiation is a crucialbecause, as shown in a previous paragraph, it denotesferent growing areas, each one with specific charactetics, where only particular plants may grow. Fthe examination of the environment where the plgrows is even more important in Tibetanbecause the potency (nus pa) of the plant is also depe

ent upon the orientation of the slope where itsunny or shady, and even upon the altitude. In particuwhile the hot (tsha) power (stobs) of the sun prevailsthe sunny slopes, the cold (bsii) power of the moonvails on the shady ones. In the same way, the altiinfluences the cold nature or the hot nature of the pincreasing or decreasing its potency.

Plant nomenclature

Giving a name to an object represents a priori a

classification because it enables the observer to isolfrom the others. The desisnation derives from a cosnrprocess whose aim (apart from the one of giving a nz

is to attribute a special role and value to each objectwhich represents the first stage of its actual use. As Be(1992:4-5) says: "before human beings can utilizebiological resources of a local environment, they mfirst ofall. be classified".

Field research shows that most plant names,

they popular or belonging to Tibetan medicine,devised in the same way, and that the criteria ofclature among Tibetans are the same as shown byscholars (Conklin, 1962; Berlin, 1992; Martin, 1

Friedberg, 1997) in other human populations.The analysis of the different names attributed to

in different Tibetan regions at the popular levelamong learned informants2? has enabled me to difew name types. Some plants are designated with the

'5 Platycladus orientalis is designated as a type (rigs) of shug pa rnLitang and adjacent Counties of Sichuan Province (China).

'ó The identification ofthe two types of sur ru refers here to the region ofDhorpatan (central Nepal).

'? In Tibetan societies, learned informants mainly include a portion of the clergy and the majority of traditional doctors.

itVC

re)

ALESSANDRO BOESÌ

inSA

Ti

I - Tlpes of plant names employed by Tibetan populations.

Name type Tibetan name

sne u

tsher sngon

rtsad pho, "masculine rtsad'rtsad mo, 'ofeminine rtsad'

lug ru ser po, "yellow lug ru"lug ru dmar po,'oÍed lug ru"

Names are given on the basis of the plant generalthe morphological features of its organs and othersuch as the taste and smell, the characteristics of

environment, the region of origin, the use (technical,iet and medicine) and the cultural sienificance. In the

way as in other popular designation systems, thesystem has an adaptable meaning: vernacular

are easy to learn and to remember. The employ ofterminology enables the people who do not use a

ting system to reduce the cognitive effort necessary toI with a large number of plants.Another coÍlmon aspect of ethnobiological classifica-

which we observed among Tibetans, is that somehave an exclusive name while others have to share

As a matter of fact, several similar plants which areily subject to be designated with the same basic name,

co-exist in the same area. On the contrary, the plantsing an exclusive name are usually the only ones thriv-in the area, which have distinctive features isolatine

from the others. Yet, other plants may bear an exclu-name because of their important role in the life of thelation.

Tibetan popular plant nomenclature varies consider-from region to region, from village to village, andg nomads' settlements and all Tibetans are wellof that. For example, the people of Litang town

rt that several different dialects are spoken in the areasame time and that as a consequence each plant

be named in a different wav. Thev mention thelect of Litang, the one of Kharn3, (Khams), the differ-dialects spoken by the nomads ('brog skad), and thecial language ofTibet (bod yig). Owing to the fact that

people coming from other Tibetan towns such as

terms "plant basic name" and "attribute" were firstly proposed by Conklin (1952) andalso employed by Friedberg (1990).m is the denomination of a Tibetan region, located in the eastern portion of the Tibetan plateau, which tonsists ofthe si" high pasture grounds

the four lower valleys (sgang drug rong bzhi) of fo:ur great rivers: the Salween (rngul chu), the Mekong (rdza chu), the yangtsJl ?"i chu), and,themg (nyag chu).

the sub-section devoted to "attributes" for the botanical identification of sur kum.the Litang County this plant correspon ds to Ranunculus affinis var. tanguticus .

two expressions kha tsha me tog and,lce tsha me tog are also mentioned in the treatises of Tlbetan materia medica such as tle Shel phreng (De'udge bshes bstan 'dzin phun tshogs, 1994).

"basic plant names" whilst others are named withic plant name and an "attribute",8. Basic plant nameshave a meaning or not while attributes always have

one. Basic plant names may be simple or compound. InTable 1, the different types of plant names are shown.

Garze (dKar rtse),Dzogchen (rDzogs chen),Derge (bDerge), and Batang (?a) settle in Litang during srunmer,other dialects are spoken and several denominations ofthe same plant may be recorded. Only a few plants, whichare or were very important in the life of Tibetan peoplesuch as juniper-cypress (shug pa), saffron (gur kum)30,and potentilla (gro ma), keep the same name throughoutdifferent regions. On the contrary, the majority of tradi-tional doctors employ the standard drug-names, whichcorrespond to the ones mentioned in the official treatisesof materia medica.

Basic namesPlant basic names may be simple or compound,

descriptive or metaphorical; they may have a meaning ornot, and they may be devised on the basis of one or moreparameters. Some descriptive names are given accordingto the general aspect and the biological features and trans-formation processes of the plant or of one of its organs,others are worked out on the basis of plant ecology. Allover Tibetan regions a type of himalayanpoppy with blueflowers, and which is a thorny plant, is called tsher sngon(Meconopsis horridula), whose meaning is "thorn blue".A small buttercup with yellow flowers is common in theLitang County3' as in many other Tibetan regions, its des-ignation has been devised on the basis ofthe hot taste ofits flowers. Two similar names of the above plant are usedat the popular level, kha tsha me tog, ooflower of the hotmouth", and lce tsha me tog, "flower of the hot tongue",while a few traditional doctors of Litang also employ theterm sga tsha, 'ohot sga"",The nomads of the LitangCounty name dandelions (Taraxacum fficinale s.l.) nyindgun me tog,"midday flowers", because they are thought

simple basic name + atffibute

compound basic name + attribute

PLANT KNOWLEDGE AMONG TIBETAN POPULATIONS

to bloom mainly in the central hours of the day. In thetown of Derge a plant which sometimes grows on thehouse flat rooftops made of earth is called, khang phug,"hole in the house" (Lepidium apetalum), because itsroots penetrate the roof and can be seen on the ceilinginside the building. Several plant basic names relate to theenvironment of growth: spang rgyqn, 'omeadow-orna-ment" (Gentiana spp.), spqng sgo, *meadow-egg" (amushroom not identified, gathered in Litang), spangspos, "meadow-incense" (Nardostachys grandiflora)33,skam slqte3a, 'o born in dry places" (Pedicularis cra-nolopha)'s.

Metaphorical basic names are worked out on the basisofthe analogy between the plant or a part ofit and othernatural or manufactured similar objects such as animals,animals' organs, and common tools. Sometimes, namesare given on the basis of tales and legends, many of whichhave a religious connotation. Metaphorical basic namesoften include names of domestic and wild animals livinginTibet and abroad. Many types of lousewort (Pedicularisspp.) are called" as already shown in a previous paragraph,lug ru,'osheep's horn", others glang sna36,'oelephant'strunk", according to the features of their flowers. InLitang, an edible mushroom is designated byi'u rkanglag,"small bird feet" (a mushroom not identified), owingto the morphology of its fruiting body. Several metaphor-ical basic names refer to man-made objects: nomads andvillagers of the Litang County designate srang ga me tog,"flower of the srang ga [coin]", many plants belonging tothe botanical genus Aster,becatse the yellow central partof their flowers is similar to a coin (called srang ga) oncein circulation in Tibet. The nomads of the same regionname khu yug rdza ril, "clay pot of khu !u7''rr, an orchid(Cypripedium machrantum) whose flower lip is similar toclay pots (rdza ril) traditionally employed in the area.Another interesting designation is 'brug mo ja tshags,"sieve for tea of Drugmo" (Lilium lophophorum) (Fig. 5).According to the same nomads, Drugmo, the wife ofGesar (Ge sar), the much-celebrated Tibetan epic hero,used the flower of this plant as a sieve for tea. Other basicplant names as spang spos (Nardostachys grandiflora),"meadow-incense", and, ston ja (Potentilla sp.), "autumntea", an herbaceous plant once employed in Litang as asubstitute of tea and which was gathered in autumn, arerelated to the human use of the plant.

Plant basic names originating from Sanskrit andChinese languages often occur in the Tibetan materiamedica and sometimes at the popular level.

The Sanskrit name of a few plants once imported fromIndia have been given to similar plants typical ofTibet: allTibetans employ the name ut pal, coming from theSanskrit utpala, which designates the blue lotus

Figure 5 - 'Brug mo ja tshags, Lilium lophophorumCounfy (Sichuan, China), 4,230 m, bZhag lung, June

(Nymphaea caerulea) (Beer, 1999: 37),to point outeral different types of poppies thriving in Tibetan reg(Meconopsis spp.)38 as ut pal ser po (Meconopsis ifolia) and ut pal sngon po (M. grandis)3e.In the Timateria medica several plants traditionally importedIndia and Nepal have maintained their Sanskrit desition as pi pi ling (Piper longum) (dGa'ba'i rdo rje, 1

137), whose Sanskrit appellation is pippalt, and ka(Amomum subulatum) (ibidem: 97), whichthe Sanskrit kakkolam.

As concerns plant basic names of Chinese origin,eral of them are employed at the popular level and innomenclature of Tibetan medicinal plants. For examsome plants having an economic value for Tibetanof the Litang County are named with Chinese desitions, which are used at the same time as or substituteditional Tibetan names. Villaeers and nomads desiîir (Abies spp.) and spruce (Picea spp.) as thangbut another term often used is sam pa ot som Deao. wderives from the Chinese song Qtine). This name isably employed in other regions of east and northeast Tias Rockhill (1894: 88) reports. In the same region,bulbs ofa few species of Fritillaria, gathered andChinese traders by Tibetans, are commonly named

33 Specimens gathered in Litang and Baragaon.34 Only traditional doctors know this term, which is proper to the materia medica of Tibetan medicine. The popular designation is lug ru ser po" Specimen gathered in Litang.36 Non-educated Tibetans rarely employ this term.37 In the Litang county the term khu yug is employed as a s)'nonym of khu byug,the cukoo bird.38 In Tibetan medicine, the name ut pal may also designate a few types of butteicups (Ranunculus spp.) and aster (lsler spp.).3e The two specimens have been gathered in Litang County.'0 The well-known Tibetan pharmacopoeia Shel phreng (De'u dmar dge bshes bstan 'dzin phun tshogs, 1994:254) quotes the expression somshing as a synonym of thang shing.

ìte,o

ch

anof

OI

Se

ALESSANDRO BOESI

". Yet, the popular vernacular name for these plants inis dug and dug med, while the name employed by

itional doctoîs is a'u rtsiar.The term "pe mon", whichhas almost substituted the Tibetan designation,

from the Chinese nane bei mu (Kw-Ytng Yen,: 85).

Attributes are adjectives or nouns added to the plantic name, which have the function of differentiating

or more plants having the same basic name.rtimes, and in particular in the nomenclature of

Ianmatería medica, two attributes are added. In this, the second one has the function of differentiatingplants having the same basic name and the same first

. Attributes are mostly worked out on the basis offollowing plant features: colour of the flower, plantgender, environment of 6;rowth, and region of origin.

ical attributes associating plant morphology tomorphology also occur. Only in the nomenclaturetan medicinal plants attributes are devised on the

is of plant efficacy.I have shown in the previous paragraphs several plantic names having attributes referring to flower colour as

lu,lug ru, and spang rgyan. The adjectives chen (big)chung (small) are used as atlributes with the functionifferentiating similar plants having a different size.chen me tog ("big yellow flower") and ser chung me("small yellow flower")42 are the designations used by

of Litang to distinguish two plant types on theis of their flower size. In the nomenclature of Tibetan

medica the two above attributes are used to dis-ish two |ypes of thar nu: thqr chen (Euphorbia wal-

ii), "big tltar nu" and thar chung, "small tltar nîÌ'longifulia)o'. The three attrfrutes pho (mascu-

), mo (feminine), and ma ning (hermaphrodite) occurlant names both at the popular level and in Tibetan

teria medica. They are oflen related to plant size orgeneral features, to the morphology oftheir organs,

in many cases to flower* size and position. The attrib-pho often points out the biggest plant type or the oneing the biggest flower, whilst the attribute mo desig-

the smallest type or the one having the smallest: The attribute ma ning, rarely used at the popular

[, designates a plant type showing intermediate fea-between masculine and feminine type. For example,

Sherpa villagers of the Nepalese region of Khumbuthe attributes pho and mo to differcntiate two types ofh (stag pa, Betula utilis): mo stag and pho stag. The

line type has a reddish bark, which is easilypped off, and a very hard wood, while the f-emimne

to a modern pharmacopoeia of Tibetan matería medica this plant corresponds to Fritillaria cirrhosa (dGa' ba'i rdo {e, 1998: 319)two so named types of plant usually belong to the following botanical generu: Trollius, Caltha, and sometimes Ranunculus.identification ofthese fwo Tibetan medicinal plants refers to the region ofDhorpatan (central Nepal).meaning of the term flower is the common one, and not the botanical one.

to dGa' ba'i rdo rje (1998: 269), brag mtshe corresponds to Ephedra equísetina, spang mtshe to E. gerardiana urd E. minuta, chu mtshe

diffusum.the sub-section "Plant forms",

(1990: 83-87) designates this kind ofgroupings "ensembles".(l 990: 84) proposed the term "séries" to designate these plant groupings.

ffie has narrow leaves, a whitish bark which is difficultto strip off, and a wood that is not as hard as in the mas-culine type.

Animal names sometimes occur as attributes as in thecase of shug pa (Juniperus spp., Cuprersu^r spp.,Platycladus orientalis). The attributes ra (goat) and lug(sheep) are commonly used in all Tibetan regions to dis-tinguish two types of juniper-cypress on the basis of leafmorphology. The type called ra shug has needle-likeleaves, which are said to be similar to goats' horns. Thetype called lug shug has scale-like leaves and is related tosheep's horns, which are crescent-shaped. Some attributesare related to the environment of growth of the plant. Forexample, a traditional doctor from Baragaon says thatmtshe ldum includes several types: spang mtshe (meadowmtshe), brag mtshe (rock mtshe), and chu mtshe (watermtshe)os. Other attributes are connected to the regionwhere the plant typically grows, as with gur kum.Educated and non-educated Tibetans in different regionsdistinguish three types of this planf: kha che gur kum(Crocus sativus), bod lqti gur kum (Calendula fficinalis),and bql gyi gur kum (Carthamus tinctorias). Each attrib-ute is probably connected either to the region from wherethe type of saffron is or was traditionally imported or itmay point out a local substitute. As a matter of fact, khache gur kum (gur kum of Kashmir) was principallyimported from Kashmi4 bal gyi gur kum (gur kum ofNepal) does not thrive in the wild over Tibetan regions,and was imported from nearby areas, in particular,according to a traditional doctor from Khyungpo, it camemostly from Nepal and India. Bod l<yi gur kum (gur kumof Tibet) is probably so named because it is grown in sev-

eral Tibetan regions in house gardens. Sometimes thename is related to the plant formo6 to which the typebelongs as with the sacred plant imported from Indiacalled ku sha (Tysanolaena maxima), which has a Tibetantype called rtsws ku sha (grass ku sha) among Litang vil-lagers.

Classification

Six hierarchical levels can be pointed out in Tibetanplant classification: variety, type, basic name, set47, plantforms, and kingdom.

Basic name, type and variety levelsThe basic name level, the third one, is the most impor-

tant in Tibetan and non-Tibetan ethnobiological classifi-cations because it is the starting point to organize plantdiversity. At the basic name level, the so-called "series"a8

represent the taxa which I firstly recognized on the field.

lic(E

lirin

42,

43,

45,

to46

47

PLANT KNOWLEDGE AMONG TIBETAN POPIJ'LATIONS

They may include two or more types having the samebasic name and that are categorized by assigning them aspecific attribute. Each type may include different vari-eties. Series usually include similar plants that are classi-fied on the basis of minute morphological variations, asthe presence ofthorns, leafshape, bark features, and oftenon the basis of flower colour and environment of growth.Parameters of classification and identification frequentlycorrespond. The plant cultural significance sometimeshas an important role in the categorisation such as withwild garlic (tSoS pa).Litang villagers differentiate sever-al types of garlic: byi'u sgog (Allium macranthum),"small bird's garlic"; rug sgog (Allíum prattii), "rug gal-lic"; sha sgog (Allium sp.), "meat garlic"; sgog pq (Atliumsp.), "garlic". This is a complex taxon whose constituentsare classified according to parameters of different nature.In particular, the informants affirm that sha sgog is thetype usually eaten with meat and that byi'u sgog has aflower similar to the body of a small bird.

Set levelOther taxa of the next hierarchical order, the fourth

one, named "set", include plants having different basicnames, that is two or more "series". Sometimes, these cat-egories do not have their own designation and aredescribed by using a circumlocution. In this case, plantsbelonging to the same set are often pointed out by usingthe expressions oothey go together" (mnyam du 'gro) and"they are companions" (rogs pa red). Other scholars(Bulmer, 1974: 95; Friedberg, 1990: 86; Berlin, 1992:145) have provided evidence of the use of these expres-sions in several ethnobotanical classifications around theworld. Sets are devised on the basis of parameters of dif-ferent nature, which may be employed simultaneously:for example, morphological, biological features and use.Owing to their formation criteria, several of these group-ings are juxtaposed as far as their constituents are con-cerned and they cannot be arranged hierarchically.

Three groups of classification parameters may be dif-ferentiated: ecological, morphological-biological, andcultural-technical.

Traditional doctors of Litang classify two plant groupson the basis of their environment of growth and theirgrowing needs. The first one, called chu gi rtswa ("herba-ceous plants of water"), includes the plants thriving onwet soils (sa cha rlon pa) and having tender and flexibleorgans. The second one, called sa skam po gi rtswa("herbaceous plants of dry soils") includes plants grow-ing on dry grounds and having organs that, once broken,produce a sharp sound.

The same informants separate two groups ofherbaceousplants on the basis of the their life cycle. Certain plants,called grang rtswa ("cold, herbaceous plants"), start grow-

ing at the beginning of spring when temperature is stillwhereas others wait until summer has come. The desition grang rtswa also points out herbaceous plantsblooming occurs in autunnn. The second group,includes herbaceous plants completing their lifefull summer, is not named..According to Jàschke's TiEnglish Dictionary (1992: 556),mushrooms may befied in three categories relèrring to their enviro

)l-

ofgrowth: klung sha (valley mushrooms), chu sha (mushrooms), and shing sha (wood mushrooms).

r

Other sets include a small number of series andrepresent medicinal plants or plants having an icultural and technical use. These groupings are notmon. Plants included in these sets have similarical features and sometimes similar taste and smellon.

For example, the taxon shug pa (Fig. 6) is wellin all Tibetan regions by the entire population. Itnates some plants belonging to the botanicalJuniperus, Cupressus, and Platycladus'1. Theof distinction of the different types recosnizedTibetans are leaf morphology, plant size, envigrowth, and fragrance". Here follows the classificatjthe taxon shug pa in the Tibetan region of Baragaon.category consists of two series: shug pa and spawhich both are included in the same group owing to tmorphological similarities. Yet, they differ as far asgeneral aspect is concerned: spq ma has a flatwhile shug pa has an upright one. sPa ma usuallyat high altitude.

The series shug pa includes two types: rgya shugshug tsher. Shug tsher (Juniperus indica), "thorny

byofofris

the

pa", is mainly chnacferized by having thorns'r, whimain quality of rgya shug, "Indian shug pa", issmooth ('jam po)". Two varieties of rgya shug arenized in Baragaon: lha shug ("shug pa of(Cupressus torulosa), which has a particularand is used as incense (spos), and lug shug,"shugsheep" (Juniperus indica)''.

Informants from Baragaon differentiate twospa ma: spq ma tsher ma chen ("spa ma having(Juniperus squamata), a dwarf-spreading shrub withdle-shaped leaves; and spa ma tsher ma med pa ("spawithout thorns"), which I did not observe on the fieJapanese team which carried out an ethnobotanicalsuvey in the same region in the 1980s (Kojima, 1986:

thebe

s")

of

of,rl

Alde)

farto

identified spa ma tslter mu can as Juniperus tJ,which at high altitudes grows as a prostrate shrub. Asas spa mq tsher ma med pa is concernedfloristic and ecological studies carried out in the aother species ofjuniper and cypress, which can benamed, do not exist. It could be speculated that theplant specimens of Juniperus indica having scaleaves and thriving as dwarf-spreading shrubs at high

o'The majority of these kind of sets include plants belonging to the same genus or, more frequently, to the same botanical family.'0 These three species belong to the botanical family ofCupressaceae.5rThe paramaters ofdistinction used at the popular level and the one used by traditional doctors almost coincide." Juniperus indica has awl-shaped leaves on lower branches and in young plants.53 rGya shughas scale-like adpressed leaves.

'u Adult trees, having almost scaleJike leaves, are so named.

shug pa

ALESSANDRO BOESI

might be referred to as spa ma tsher ma med pa.Lis classification is mainlv known bv learned

of Baragaon. Many non-educated people dorecognize the taxon rgya shug and seldom the taxon

6 - The taxon shug pa in the region of Baragaon (central Nepal). To show plant categories, I adopted the system employed by Berlin (1992: 47).ogical taxa are represented by circle in bold, ethnobiological taxa ate pointed out by thin circle and ellipses, which may include one or more bio-

I species. The designations of ethnobiological taxa are given in bold italics, while the names of biological taxa are given in italics.

ther sets, which occur in all Tibetan regions among

lha shug. Other informants, both educated and non-edu-cated use the designations lha shug, rgya shug, and lugshug to designate all types of shug pawhich have scale-like leaves.

Some plants are included in the category of poisons(dug),which also includes substances of animal and min-eral origin. The term dug does not only designate toxicsubstances that cause serious disorders. but also all sub-stances that generate minor effects on the body such as

digestive problems. Many edible plants having bitter tasteare treated before consumption to eliminate their unpleas-ant taste, which is commonly referred to as poison andwhich has no other effects than causing a difficult andslow digestion. Other plants, such as mgo re gya re(Stellera chamaejasme) in Litang and Baragaon", are

considered toxic owing to their scent, which may causebad headache and fainting fits.

Plants having a particular fragrance and that are usedas incense both by laymen and monks, are designated as

spos (incense). This grouping also includes other sub-stances than plants.

Firewood (me shing) also represents an importantplant category *.hose constituents are classified on thebasis of two main criteria: heat production and burningrapidity. The people of Litang list the different types ofwood locally used according to their decreasing amountof heat production as follows: oak (be do shing, Quercussect. semecarpifulia), birch (gro ba shingt'., Betula sp.),juniper and cypress (shug pa shing, Juniperus sp.,

Cupressus sp.), fir and spruce (thang shing, Abies sp.,

and non-educated people, are worked out on theis of other features than plant morphology, biology,ecology. Their criteria oll construction are based on

technical use and cultural significance and alsonatural objects such as rmineral and animal extractsbe included in these categories. The groupings as

tshal (herbaceous edible plants), spos (incense),(medicines), sman rtswa (medicinal herbaceous

), dug $toisons), and me shing (firewood) are wellby most informants in different Tibetan regions.

doctors employ a detailed classification oflcinal plants, which is worked out on the basis of sev-criteria such as morphological features, taste, smell,

of growth, and therapeutic propertiesí, 200 4 : 239 -283 ; Cn di,, 200 4 : 3 | -7 5). At the popu-

level, most people know a small number of medicinal(rarely more than 15), which may be employed to

some of most common and simple ailments. Onlyicinal plant gatherers and traders are able to identiff

than a few medicinal plants, but they don't knowclassification, therapeutic properties and use.

Edible wild plants, nowadays seldom employed byare coÍìmonly named sngo tshal, "vegetables".

desisnation includes also the vesetables that arcin house gardens.

popular designation of this plant in Baragaon is mgo po rol bdang according to an educated informant.many other Tibetan regions the terrr' stag pa is used to point out birch

PLANT KNO'WLEDGE AMONG TIBETAN POPULATIONS

Picea sp.), and pine (sgron me shing, Pinus sp.). As con-cerns burning rapidity, oak wood is the one that burns less

rapidly, followed by birch wood, juniper and cypresswood, fir and spruce wood, and eventually pine wood. So

far, oak and birch timber is considered the best one as

firewood.

Plant formsMost informants recognize five or four plant fo

listed according to two different models.1) The five plant forms are mushrooms (sfra

grasses (rtswa), flowers (me tog), woody plants (

sdong), and woody climbers ('khri shing)'8.

45

o),

pl a nts Govert category)

rtswaherbaceous planY

Fig. 7 - First model of classification of plant forms.

2) In the second model plant forms consist of four shing).In this model the categories rtswa (herbs) anr

taxa: mushrooms (súa mo), herbaceous plants (rtswa), /og (flowers) of the first model are included in a si

woody plants (shing sdong), and woody climbers ('khri taxonnamedrtswa.

me

pl ants (covert category)

grasses

Fig. 8 - Second model of classification of plant forms.

" As Berlin (1992: 166-167) reports, "...such broadly inclusive classes generally occur as the first major groupings within each ethnobiologicalsification kingdom, forming a conffastive group of a small number of taxa of plants and animals...While some groupings correspond rather closerecognized scientific higher-order taxa, most life-form taxa do not reflect biologically natural classes of organisms. ... In the plant world, the focmajor differences based on stem habit, probably one of the primary perceptual features leading to the recognition of the most common major life-taxa found in folk systems of ethnobiological classification (e.9. "tree", "vine", "herbaceous plant"), leads to grouping that often violate naturallogical taxa at the family level".'8 The term 'khri shing may be literally translated as "wood which twines".

las-

/tcsol

trr

bt

ALESSANDRO BOESI

The differences between the two above models are nott as far as plant forms general conception and

tification of their constituents are concerned. As aof fact, many informants from different regions

ider both the models valid and employ them indis-ively. Several non-educated informants do not men-the category of woody cllimbers ('khri shing), proba-

owing to the fact that in Tibetan regions only a limit-number of plants can be included in this taxon. A small

of traditional doctors include woody climbers incategory ofwoody plants (shing sdong).As with the first model, the criterion of distinction

grasses (rtswa) and flowers (me tog)se is the pres-or the absence of flowers. Other features are similar

categories: a few traditional doctors have pointed

PLANT EXPLOITATION

Owing to their importance for yak, sheep, and goating, for firewood (a1so as yak dung), house con-ion, and medicine, plants represent a crucialrce for Tibetan populations. Several plant and mush-species, dbyar rtswa dgun 'bu (Cordyceps sinensis)i, 2003; Winkler, 2004) and spqng spos

ys grandrflora) t<> name a few, had and haveimportance, and in the past decades several of

have become a significant source of income forpopulations.

Comparing fieldwork observations and recent ethnob-ical publications to information gathered by explorersmissionaries in the past centuries, it clearly came out

t certain plants played a more important role in thewhilst others are more irnportant at the present time.

example, plants were frequently employed as food inicular during famines, tools were manufactured withI wood and several natural colours were prepared

locally gathered plants and minerals. The situationis very different: vegetables, many tools and most

are imported from lowland regions. The cause of thisnomenon may be related to the socio-economic, cul-

and political changes, rvhich have been mainly tak-place since the 1950s, afi.er the Chinese take-over of

regions. New products have arrived in manyregions and have substituted the old ones.

Fia

ldwork observations in the Litang County are validin many other Tibetan cultural regions: villagers hav-

CONCLUSION

The knowledge of the plant world varies amongin relation to education, profession (herders,

medicinal plant gatherers, traditional doctors,etc.) and to cultural influences coming from other(e.g., India and China). According to fieldwork

obtained in different regions and the few ethnobotan-

word me log designates both a flower (common sense) and a herbaceous plant bearins oneexpression has a large meaning, including not only all herbaceous plants, but also other lower taxa of modern botanical classification such as

out that grasses and flowers share the same intrinsicnature ofbeing "herbaceous green tender" (ngo bo sngored).That is why most educated informants, and in partic-ular traditional doctors, have reported the second modelof classification. They consider crucial for the classifica-tion the essential nature of the constituents of these twogroupings and not their morphological variations. So far,they describe only oîe lqxon named rtswq, whichincludes all herbaceous plants60. Although they exhibitdistinct morphological features, mushrooms (sha mo) arebelieved (among traditional doctors) to share the sameintrinsic nature named sngo of herbaceous plants andflowers as well as, as shown in a previous paragraph, sev-eral common features: growth from the soil (sa nas slqte),soft ('jam po) and flexible (mnyen po) organs.

ing relationship with the main economic centres owing toimproved communication and transportation facilitieshave abandoned the use of wild plants. Yet, the use ofplants is relatively spread in remote villages and amongseveral nomadic communities, although the number ofplants actually gathered is small. The use of plants as reli-gious offerings in temples and private houses, and in chil-dren games is still important among the population ofLitang. This use is not so spread in other regions asLadakh, Baragaon, and Shar Khumbu.

Other plants are nowadays far more important than inthe past as economic resource and they sometimes repre-sent the most important source of income for severalTibetan communities. During the last decades, the marketdemand for well renowned natural substances, many ofwhich coming from the Tibetan regions, utilised in tradi-tional medicines (Chinese, Ayurvedic) and diet, andsought by pharmaceutical and phyto-pharmaceuticalcompanies, has increased. As far as the exploitation ofnatural produce is concerned, following the recent eco-nomic liberalisation, improved transportation and devel-opment of markets linked to the international economy,the trading in natural produce gathered in the wild hasbeen skyrocketing. These various kinds ofproduce, whichinclude many plants, can be bartered or sold for the cashneeded to pay taxes or to purchase staple commodities,including food in case of famine.

ical papers on Tibetan populations (e.g. Sacherer, 1979),Tibetan botanical knowledge is homogeneous and thesystems of plant identification and classification corre-spond to the ones observed among other populationsaround the world.

Owing to the recent political, cultural and socio-eco-

(pteridophites) and mosses (bryophytes).

nomic changes that have been affecting more or lessmarkedly the entire Tibetan cultural area, Tibetan knowl-edge of the plant world is endangered as well as allTibetan traditional lore. For example, in Litang this phe-nomenon is quite spread. New generations did not receivefrom their families most of the information on traditionallife. As a matter of fact, the majority of young people donot know plant vernacular names and use, whereas oldpeople do. Yet, in the same region, young nomads stillhave good knowledge of plants and environment.

PLANT KNO\ryLEDGE AMONG TIBETAN POPULATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

REFERENCES

I point out that the investigation into traditiknowledge related to the environment may beorder to establish natural reserves and to set upofnatural resource conservation and of sustainableopment. So far, the research into Tibetan plantedge, as well as in general on Tibetan traditions, shouldcarried out intensively and rapidly to document andserve this valuable lore for liture senerations before ilost forever.

I would like to thank all Tibetan informants fromLitang, Baragaon, Khumbu, and Dhorpatan. I am gratefulto the Museum of Archaeology of the University of

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ALESSANDRO BOESI

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Wylie T. V, 1959 - A Standard System of TibetanTranscription. Harttard Journal of Asiatic Studies,2:26t-67.economy, ecology &

Alessandro Boesi, Shangdril Centro Studi per l'Himalaya e il Tibet, Società htaliana di Scienze NaturaliMuseo Civico di Storia Naturale, Corso Venezia, 55,20121Milano, Italy, email: alessandro.boesi@shangdril.org

Plant knowledge among Tibetan populationsMemorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano

Volume XXXIII - Fascicolo I

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