The use of plants in the medical system of the Fulni-ô people (NE Brazil): A perspective on age and gender

This study seeks to identify the sites where these resources are collected by the indigenous Fulni-ô community of the Águas Belas municipality in northeast Brazil. Although a total of 245 ethnospecies were mentioned overall, more than 50% of these plants were known by no more than three indigenous persons, which could indicate that such knowledge was not widely shared. Evaluating the influence of age, we identified a strong tendency for older persons to know more about medicinal plants than those in younger age groups. Despite the lack of substantial variation in the number of ethnospecies cited by men and women on the individual level, the differences between the sexes as groups were significant. Among the most important collection sites, anthropogenic areas were the primary collection sites for women.