There are few publications on the use and diversity of wild leafy vegetables (WLVs) in Morocco. In order to address this gap, we conducted ethnobotanical field work in Taounate, Azilal and El House regions.

Background: A literature review revealed heavy reliance on a few key publications for identification of medicinal plant species from local or vernacular names and a lack of citation of voucher specimens in many publications. There is a need for more reliable and standardized data on the identity of species used for medicine, especially because local names vary from region to region. This is especially true in the case of medicinal roots, for which identification of species is difficult. This paper contributes to existing data on the species sold as medicinal roots (and other underground plant parts such as bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers) in Morocco. Methods: Data were collected in collaboration with herbalists in Marrakech and collectors in rural regions near Marrakech where species are collected from the wild. The ethno-medicinal uses of these species were also recorded. Results: We identified the vernacular names for 67 medicinal roots (by free listing) used to treat a variety of human diseases. We were able to collect and identify one or more species for 39 of the recorded vernacular names. The ones we were not able to identify were either imported or no longer available in the markets. We collected more than one species for some of the vernacular names for a total of 43 species. We identified six new vernacular names and four species which had not been previously described in the literature. Our botanical identification matched at least one of the names listed in the literature 63% of the time and did not match any species listed in the literature 37% of the time. Of the three most commonly cited pieces of literature we compared to, we found the greatest overlap with the broader, more comprehensive work of Bellakhdar 1997 (as opposed to Benchâabane and Abbad 1997 which worked in a similarly focused geographical area). However there was only 63% agreement between Bellakhdar 1997 and our botanical identifications, and 29% of the time our identification didn’t match even the genus of any of the species listed in any of the 3 most commonly cited pieces of literature. Conclusions: More rigorous methodology and reporting are needed for medicinal plant research in Morocco. This will ensure that studies are comparable, help to protect traditional medicine users from negative health effects, and, support efforts to conserve overharvested wild medicinal plants.

Les racines des plantes médicinales constituent une part importante de la pharmacopée marocaine traditionnelle. Cependant, malgré le rôle intéressant que jouent ces racines en médecine traditionnelle, plusieurs questions de durabilité et éventuellement de substitution ou/et de confusion ont été soulevées. Anacyclus pyrethrum var. pyrethrum est parmi les plantes médicinales qui sont sujettes à cette situation. Le présent travail constitue une contribution à une étude ethnobotanique, ethnotaxonomique et ethnoécologique de la plante A. pyrethrum var. pyrethrum dans la vallée d’Ait Mhamed, considérée comme un des derniers refuges de l’espèce dans le Haut Atlas central. Les enquêtes ethnobotaniques réalisées auprès de 28 collecteurs et 2 grossistes dans la région ont montré que la racine, considérée comme la partie la plus exploitée de l’espèce, est utilisée essentiellement en poudre ou en décoction contre le rhumatisme articulaire des membres inférieurs, des vertèbres lombaires et aussi contre la gastroentérite. En application locale, la racine est utilisée fraîche contre les maux de dents et dans l’hygiène intime des femmes. L’étude a montré que les femmes possèdent un savoir-faire plus important que les hommes dans l’usage phytothérapique de cette racine. L’étude ethnotaxonomique a montré que les collecteurs savent très bien distinguer entre la racine de iguendez (A. pyrethrum var. pyrethrum ou vrai pyrèthre) et celle de tiguendizt (A. pyrethrum var. depressus ou faux pyrèthre). Les collecteurs utilisent la couleur des fleurs, la forme et la taille des racines et l’odeur pour différencier entre ces deux espèces. Cela montre bien que la substitution entre les deux racines est volontaire et que la confusion est très rare. L’étude ethnoécologique a montré qu’il y a un consensus au sein de deux groupes de collecteurs (jeunes et âgés) en ce qui concerne l’écologie de A. pyrethrum var. pyrethrum. Cela montre bien qu’il y a une transmission verticale du savoir écologique entre les générations en ce qui concerne l’espèce vu son intérêt économique. Cette étude a montré également que la population locale est consciente de la raréfaction de l’espèce dans son aire de répartition naturelle et qu’elle détient un savoir-faire très important concernant son mode de gestion et de conservation in situ.

Patterns of plant phytochemical composition vary between populations of any plant species and impact the cultural and economic value of important plant species. Phenotypic outcomes are a combination of genetic, environmental, and human influence. Thymus saturejoides is endemic to Morocco and Algeria and part of a suite of economically important wild plants used to produce essential oils for the global market in the region. Currently, little is known about the human and ecological factors that shape T. saturejoides phenotypic traits. In this paper, we examine the factors that drive phenotypic variation in the species T. saturejoides through the chemical composition of essential oil. We used a systematic review protocol to identify 15 published sources, from which we obtained data on chemical composition (secondary metabolites and/or chemotype) for 51 samples, as well as information on the geographic location of harvest listed in the paper. We used the geographic location information to determine elevation, temperature, precipitation, soil type, and soil carbon. We ran linear regression models to determine if any of these environmental variables were associated with the content of key chemicals known to mark quality and value in T. saturejoides. Elevation was statistically significant in the models for thymol, linalool, p-cymene, carvacrol (p = 0.072), and borneol (p = 0.056). Other environmental variables were not statistically significantly related to the content of any of the chemicals. Although we did not find an association between chemical composition and temperature or precipitation, this does not exclude the possibility that a relationship exists at a finer spatial or temporal scale, such as days, weeks, or months. Our findings could also suggest that genetic and human-related factors, such as time of harvest, are more important than environmental factors.