Ethnobotany of the Lega in the Tropical Rain Forest of Eastern Zaire: Part One, Zone de Mwenga

Abstract

Ethnobotanical research was conducted on the traditional use of wild plants among the Lega slash-and-burn agriculturalists of eastern Zaire. Data on 287 plants were collected and matched with scientific names, vernaculars, botanical observations, uses, and name etymology. This report is the first step in a survey that will involve several research sites in Legaland in an attempt to understand man-plant interrelations in the floral environment of tropical rain forests through the ethnobotanical method.