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The diversity of plant species in southern Africa is matched by an equally
rich cultural diversity, but traditional uses of plants have not yet been systematically
recorded. Available information is fragmentary and widely dispersed in many
different journals and books. A survey by Liengme (1983a) has shown several
gaps in the scientific literature and some progress has been made towards a
more complete record of indigenous plant use in the region. Information on
some ethnic groups, such as the Khoi, Ndebele and Swazi, as well as the interaction
between plants and people, folk taxonomies, plant-related mythology, ethnoveterinary
medicine and pre-colonial plant use are some of the aspects that still remain
poorly recorded. In contrast, ethnopharmacology particularly the testing
of biological activity of crude extracts and isolated compounds has
received considerable attention in recent years. The aim of these studies is
usually to validate traditional uses rather than to provide information for
product development. A review of the literature on various categories of plant
use, including recent publications and some hitherto unpublished research,
is presented. Ethnobotany remains an underdeveloped discipline in southern
Africa and there is an urgent need to systematically document indigenous knowledge
on traditional plant use before it becomes irretrievably lost to future generations.

South African Journal of Botany 2002, 68: 1–13