An Ethnobotanical Field Survey in the Haymana District of Ankara Province in Turkey

Abstract: Dietary, therapeutical, and other ethnobotanical utilizations of the wild plants grown in Haymana district of Ankara were investigated. Information was collected by face-to-face interviews with 160 individuals in 9 selected sites. The demographic characteristics of the informants were evaluated and cross-relationships with the recorded data were also analyzed by SPSS statistical software. Results of the study show that 83.8 % of the informants recognize the utilization of wild plants either as foodstuff or as remedy, while only 16.2 % was unaware of that. Both the knowledge and the utilization of plants significantly increased with the increasing age of the informants. However, there was no significant correlation between the knowledge on plants and the educational status of the informants. Altogether 103 utilizations, recorded in the surveyed area, were obtained from 50 plant species belonging to 18 different plant families. Among these utilizations, 67 were therapeutical, while 28 as foodstuff, and 8 for various other ethnobotanical purposes. Those with the highest number of utilized species; Asteraceae (16 species) and Lamiaceae (7 species) were employed for various purposes. In conclusion, despite the close proximity of the Haymana district to a metropolitan center, wild plants are still recognized and utilized by the inhabitants in the countryside either therapeutically or as foodstuff. However, local plant names and uses were found to be different to some extend than those previously reported in the neighboring districts of Ankara, which might be due to the evolving demographics of the local population with migrations from neighboring provinces or from easter