Wild medicinal Legumes species (Fabaceae) in the district of Lircay, province of Angaraes (Huancavelica, Peru)

Abstract

What follows is an ethnobotanical study of wild medicinal Legumes from a high Andean region of Peru (district of Lircay, province of Angaraes, department of Huancavelica). The methodology was based on 33 semi-structured interviews with key informants, and the Cultural Importance Index was calculated. A total of 12 genera with 17 species were recorded. All of the plants possessed at least one vernacular name and in addition to their medicinal function had other uses. Two species are traded in the Lircay: Desmodium molliculum and Otholobium pubescens. Nine categories of use were reported, with the medicinal category registering the highest number of species (17 species) and the greatest number of reported uses (125 reports). The legume of greatest cultural importance is Senna versicolor, which was shown to be the most deeply-rooted plant in the traditional knowledge of the local.