Abstract:

By using ethnobotanical approach, we investigated the indigenous knowledge on the utilization of the wild vegetable in three Dai villages named as Man’an, Mansan and Manguangnan in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, which represented
the differences in natural and social-economic circumastances . A total of 228 plant species belonging to 75 families was recorded that used by local people as wild vegetable , among which , 147 for Man’an , 144 for Mansan and 105 for Manguangnan were recorded. The result of ANOVA ( P < 0.05) showed that there was significant difference among the average number of plant species mentioned by per person in three villages . Average number of plant species mentioned by per person in young group was significantly lower than that in old group. Through comparisons of average number of species mentioned by per person in different age groups, the loss of wild vegetables is much serious between males than between females. Finally, the authors dicussed and analyzed possible drivers that affect the maintaining of the indigenous knowledge on wild vegetable use .

Key words: Wild vegetables