In recent years Venda has suffered considerable environmental pressure as a result of overpopulation and agricultural and industrial expansion, which has led to indiscriminate destruction of vegetation and natural habitats. The ethnobotany of the Vhavenda was studied with the aim of discovering their knowledge of, and dependence on mainly indigenous plants, and its impact on the local flora and vegetation. As the first comprehensive study of its kind in Venda, it also serves as a record of an important part of the cultural heritage of the Vhavenda. Personal observations and interviews with numerous Venda people have played an important role. Information from the literature on the uses of plants by the Vhavenda was also recorded and verified. Herbarium specimens of more than 245 species of mainly indigenous, but also some exotic plants were collected and identified, and information on their uses recorded and analysed. Vernacular names for many taxa have also been recorded. The Vhavenda use indigenous plants for food, medicine, firewood, building, art, as sources of oils and dyes, for shade and as ornamentals. Despite the tendency to rely increasingly on commodities available commercially, indigenous plants still play a significant role in the lives of many people in Venda. A utilitarian system of plant classification exists among the Vhavenda. Most Venda names of plants are related to their traditional uses, morphology, anatomy, chemistry, behaviour, habitat or relationships with certain animals, while a few have onomatopoeic derivations. A traditional system of nature conservation has for long been responsible for the preservation of those plants considered to be important. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Plant Science / unrestricted

Thesis (M.A(Folklore)) --University of Limpopo, 2009 / This study contains documentation and naming of indigenous plant species of the GaMamabolo area. Knowledge about their classification and their local natural resources has been acknowledged through this study. It is not only naming and classification but extending information about interaction of useful indigenous plants with human society. This is followed by a survey of 85 plant species found in the Mamabolo area. The immense cultural significance of the traditional knowledge system is portrayed in this study. ii

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Invasive alien plants (IAPs) are often reported to use more water than indigenous plants. Inaddition, IAPs have an ability to adapt to harsh environmental conditions and they tend to spread at rapid rates, thereby threatening the country’s water resources, agricultural land, and biodiversity. Much of South Africa is expected to get drier in future due to climate change and the new climatic conditions are also predicted to accelerate the rate at which alien plants will spread. Approximately 10 million hectares are currently estimated to have been invaded by alien plants in South Africa, with an estimated average annual rate of spread of more than 5%. The first objective of this study was to compare the water use by deep rooted tree species which include invasive alien Prosopis (sp) trees and the co-occurring indigenous A. karroo. These trees are growing in a flood plain of a groundwater dependent catchment in the Northern Cape Province. Both species are dependent on groundwater and thus compete with local communities for this resource. The second objective was to determine the sources of water that the trees were using in order to understand the impacts of each species on groundwater resources. Transpiration was measured using the heat ratio method of the heat pulse velocity sap flow technique while the volumetric soil water content was monitored at several depths down the soil profile using automated capacitance soil water content probes. Weather data was collected using an automatic weather station. Stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen from plant, soil and groundwater samples were analysed to determine the sources of water used by the trees. Average tree density was approximately 613 stems per hectare for Prosopis compared to about 100 stems per hectare for A. karroo. Comparative measurements of water use shows that the annual stand level transpiration from Prosopis invasions was approximately 353 mm/year while that from A. karroo was only about 137 mm/year. Differences in stand transpiration were a result of the higher plant density for Prosopis than A. karroo. There were no significant differences in the transpiration rates of the two species for trees with a similar transpiring leaf area. Application of a two compartment linear mixing model for the oxygen isotope ratio during the peak transpiration period in summer showedthat Prosopis derived 23% of its water from the unsaturated zone and 77% from the saturated zone. A. karroo on the other hand derived 53% of its water from the unsaturated zone and47% from the saturated zone. Diurnal fluctuations in groundwater levels were strongly related to the transpiration dynamics of both species. This supports the observation that these deep rooted trees have substantial impacts on groundwater at the study site. Root sap flow patterns of Prosopis showed evidence of hydraulic redistribution wherein the groundwater abstracted by the tap roots was deposited in the shallow soil layers by lateral roots. However, the root sap flow patterns of A. karroo growing adjacent to the Prosopis did not show this phenomenon.

MRDV / Institute for Rural Development / In most poverty-stricken countries, edible indigenous plants (EIPs) have been an ever-present component of the household food and nutrition security equation since time immemorial. The place of these plants in the household food and nutrition debate and matrix is unclear. Yet, their existence lessens the impact of food and nutrition insecurity on household livelihoods. A study that was premised on the view that the types of EIPs within their local context is important although cultural domains limit the extent of their utilisation was conducted in Muchesu Ward of Binga District in north-western Zimbabwe. The study was born out of the realisation that there was inadequate scientifically generated information on how communities benefit from the EIPs. Of interest was how prevailing global environmental and economic changes influenced household food and nutrition security. Furthermore, it was evident that new approaches were needed to help build an understanding of where EIPs fitted within the food and nutrition security debate and matrix. The main objective of the current study was to characterise EIPs and examine their role in combating food and nutrition insecurity. Exploratory and phenomenological designs were used during characterising EIPs. Respondents were purposively sampled. Data were collected through participatory mapping, transect walks, focus group discussions, seasonal diagramming, key informant interviews and observation. Scoring, matrix ranking, and thematic content analysis were used to analyse the data. Inventories revealed that EIPs were available, accessible and utilised in various ways. Identified EIPs were classified according to the parts that were eaten namely: leafy vegetables, fruits, and tubers. Forty-seven leafy vegetables, 36 fruits and 26 tubers regarded as EIPs were identified. Seasonal availability of EIPs varied across the months of the year. Use of leafy vegetables peaked during the rainy season. Fruits were available in most months of the year although a considerable number of types was available and harvested during the rainy season. Tubers were also available in varied months of the year. Timing was crucial for harvesting tubers. The preparation of 20 EIPs and their uses were documented considering their medicinal properties and other uses. It was noted that some plants were edible and had medicinal value. Considering the observations made in the study, the following conclusions and recommendations were proposed: (1) Conservation and improved ways of harvesting EIPs so as to enhance their sustainability; (2) Produce seasonal calendars to help assess when a certain community is likely to be food insecure; and (3) Conduct further research focusing on the nutritional content of identified plants, which would enable better decision making with respect to household and community nutrition security. / NRF

Thesis (M.A. (African Languages)) --University of Limpopo, 2007 / Refer to the document

Thesis (M.Phil. (Environmental Law)) --University of Limpopo, 2008 / National Research Foundation, and the SANPAD scholarship

This thesis examines Greater Melbourne’s indigenous plants movement from the 1930s to the early twenty first century. It demonstrates the important scientific and educational role of the public intellectual, Professor John Turner, and of the Melbourne University Botany School which he led for thirty five years. The case study of the movement within the City of Sandringham and its successor the City of Bayside reveals how the inhabitants of an urbanised are responded to threats to the indigenous trees and wildflowers of their neighbourhood, stimulating botanists to assist them and using political means in order to achieve their conservation objectives. The thesis draws upon a range of local archives, conservation literature and private papers.

Abstract available in pdf file.

This dissertation explores the fusion of the built and biophysical environments within the context of the city. In doing so the biophysical environment contributes to the operation of the architecture in terms of microclimate control, containment, form and aesthetic. The building houses the programme of an Ethnobotanic Research Centre [EBRC], which serves as a place of research into the medicinal properties of indigenous plants and propagation thereof. The building also becomes a point of intervention to prevent the encroachment of the city on the greenbelts of Pretoria. / Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Architecture / unrestricted

Ce travail de thèse s'attache à identifier des plantes et/ou molécules à activités cytotoxique, antioxydante, anti-inflammatoire et antivirale ciblant le virus du chikungunya (CHIKV) dans le but de trouver des alternatives thérapeutiques vis-à-vis du stress oxydatif et de l'inflammation, mécanismes impliqués dans les maladies chroniques non transmissibles (diabète, obésité…), et de la maladie du chikungunya, maladie vectorielle réémergente. La première partie de ces travaux présente les résultats obtenus lors d'un criblage d'activités biologiques réalisé sur une sélection de dix-huit plantes endémiques et indigènes de La Réunion. Les activités ciblées ont été les activités cytotoxiques sur une lignée cellulaire humaine (cellules THP-1), les activités antioxydantes évaluées par un test in cellulo d'hémolyse et par quatre tests chimiques (TEAC/DPPH/FRAP/ORAC) ainsi qu'une évaluation de la teneur en composés phénoliques (test FOLIN) et les activités anti-inflammatoires testées sur des macrophages murins (cellules RAW-BlueTM). Les résultats obtenus ont permis de mettre, plus particulièrement, en évidence les activités de différents extraits : cytotoxique pour Carissa spinarum, antioxydantes pour Agarista buxifolia et Dryopteris wallichiana et anti-inflammatoire pour Stillingia lineata et Indigofera ammoxylum. La deuxième partie du travail est consacrée à l'étude phytochimique d'une espèce indigène de La Réunion, Stillingia lineata, choisie en raison des résultats obtenus lors de ce criblage biologique préliminaire et de ceux du programme Phytochik. Un fractionnement bioguidé par un test antiviral, réalisé sur des cellules Vero (cellules rénales de singe vert Cercopithecus aethiops) contaminées par le CHIKV, a conduit à l'isolement de trois macrocycles diterpéniques rares de type tonantzitlolone dont l'un présente une structure non caractérisée jusque-là, et d'un pimarane de structure nouvelle. La 4'-acétoxytonantzitlolone a été identifiée comme molécule candidate contre le CHIKV (CE50 = 7 μM). Des relations structure-activité ont pu être définies ; la présence d'un groupement oxygéné sur la chaîne latérale des tonantzitlolones semble jouer un rôle important sur la réponse antivirale de ces squelettes diterpéniques. / The aims of this PhD work were to identify plants and/or molecules with cytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory or antiviral (chikungunya virus , CHIKV) activities in order to find therapeutic alternatives towards oxidative stress and inflammation, mechanisms involved in chronic noncommunicable diseases (diabetes, obesity ...), and chikungunya disease, reemerging vector-borne disease. The first part of this work presents the results obtained from a biological screening carried out on a selection of eighteen endemic and indigenous plants of La Réunion. The targeted activities were cytotoxicity on a human cell line (THP-1), antioxidant activities evaluated using an in cellulo hemolysis assay and four chemical tests (TEAC / DPPH / FRAP / ORAC) together with an evaluation of the content of phenolic compounds (FOLIN test) and anti-inflammatory activity tested in murine macrophages (RAW cells-BlueTM). The results allowed to highlight activities of different extracts in particular : cytotoxic for Carissa spinarum, antioxidant for Dryopteris wallichiana and Agarista buxifolia and anti-inflammatory for Stillingia lineata and Indigofera ammoxylum.The second part of this work is devoted to the phytochemical study of Stillingia lineata, an indigenous species of La Réunion chosen because of the results obtained in this preliminary biological screening and those carried out in Phytochik programme. Bioassay-guided fractionation performed on Vero cells (green monkey kidney cells Cercopithecus aethiops) infected with CHIKV led to the isolation of three rare macrocycle-type diterpenes called tonantzitlolone and a new pimarane. The 4'-acetoxytonantzitlolone was identified as a candidate molecule against CHIKV (EC50 = 7 μM). Structure-activity relationships have been defined, the presence of an oxygenated group on the side chain of tonantzitlolones seems to play an important role in the antiviral response of the diterpene skeleton.