Floristic novelties in the context of interdisciplinary studies

Nowa days, interdisciplinary studies are increasingly important. Integration of botany with humanities, particularly with archaeology and ethnology, is amongst these studies. It is noteworthy that, as a result of such surveys, not only “synthetic” new data could be obtained, but also data in the specific fields of knowledge that compose these multidisciplinary complexes. Thus, during the archaeo- and ethnobotanical studies in Armenia in 2017–2021, along with the data on plant resources, little-known phytonyms, etc., some new floristic data were also recorded regarding the following species: Amaranthus graecizans L., A. hybridus L., Chamaenerion angustifolium (L.) Scop., Diospyros lotus L., Eleocharis palustris (L.) Roem. & Schult., Heracleum trachyloma Fisch. & C.A. Mey., Humulus lupulus L., Hippophae rhamnoides L., Polygonatum orientale Desf., and Ranunculus lateriflorus DC. Earlier, we also procured new data on the phytogeography for such species as Crataegus × armena Pojark., Ephedra procera Fisch. & C.A. Mey., Erodium ciconium (L.) L’Hér., Leonurus cardiaca L., Leucanthemum vulgare L., Matricaria matricarioides (Less.) Porter ex Britt., Neslia paniculata (L.) Desv., Origanum vulgare L., Salvia nemorosa L., Thymus eriophorus Ronn., Th. transcaucasicus Ronn., Tripleurospermum caucasicum (Willd.) Hayek, and T. parviflorum (Willd.) Pobed. Among the species, for which phytogeographic and floristic novelties were recorded, are crop wild relatives, endemics, and rare species, included in the IUCN list. Summarizing the findings, it can be stated that archaeo- and ethnobotany are productive not only in their interdisciplinary, “hybrid” results but also in the disciplines they both synthesize. This is the evidence that interdisciplinary approaches are highly efficient for research, demonstrating a mutually enhanced, i.e., synergistic effect in complex studies.

1. Avetisyan E.M. Amaranthaceae. In: A.L. Takhtajan (ed.). Flora of Armenia. Vol. 2. Yerevan; 1956. p.216-222. [in Russian].

2. Avetisyan E.M. Onargaceae. In: A.L. Takhtajan (ed.). Flora of Armenia. Vol. 6. Yerevan; 1973. p.139-157. [in Russian].

3. Barseghyan A.M. Wetland flora of Armenia and its analysis. Flora, Vegetation and Plant Resources of Armenia. 1981;8:53-120. [in Russian].

4. Bartis P., Winick S.D,, Groce N., Kruesi M., Shankar G. Folklife and fieldwork: an introduction to cultural documentation. 4th ed. Washington DC: American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, 2016. Available from: https://www.loc.gov/folklife/fieldwork/pdf/FolklifeandFieldwork-2016forWeb.pdf [accessed Feb. 25, 2021].

5. Bedevian A.K. Illustrated polyglottic dictionary of plant names. Cairo: Argus and Papazian Presses; 1936.

6. Gabrielian E., Zohary D. Wild relatives of food crops to Armenia and Nakhichevan. Flora Mediterranea. 2004;14:5-80.

7. Ghan dilyan P.A. The gene pool of plants of Armenia. Scientific and Technical Bulletin of the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Industry. 1991;216:18-21. [in Russian].

8. Ghandilyan P., Avagyan A., Nazarova E. Diversity of wild re latives of cultivated plants in Armenia. IPGRI. Newsletter for Europe. 2000;17:9.

9. Ghazaryan R.S. Dictionary of plant names in Armenian, Latin, Russian, English, French, and German. Yerevan; 1981. [in Armenian]

10. Grossheim A.A. Plant resources of Caucasus (Rastitelnye bogatstva Kavkaza). Moscow: MOIP; 1952. [in Russian].

11. Hovsepyan R. Archaeobotanical sampling: Instructions for fieldwork. In: Proceedings of the Institute of Archaeo logy and Ethnography. Vol. 2. Yerevan: IAE; 2017. p.212-216.

12. Hovsepyan R. Seeds from vishaps’ environment: Archaeobotanical findings from the high mountainous site of Karmir Sar (Tirinkatar, Mt. Aragats, Armenia). Quaternary International. 2021;579:19-28. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.05.026

13. Hovse pyan R., Stepanyan-Gandilyan N., Stollberg Ch. Phytomedicinal knowledge and “official” sources in Tatev (Armenia). Ethnobiology Letters. 2019;10(1):23-34. DOI: 10.14237/ebl.10.1.2019.1266

14. Hovsepyan R.A., Stepanyan-Gandilyan N.P. Use of plants in the folk medicine of the Molokans of Armenia: Preliminary data. Etnografia. 2021;2(12):98-117. [in R ussian]. DOI: 10.31250/2618-8600-2021-2(12)-98-117

15. ISE Code of Ethics (with 2008 additions). International Society of Ethnobiology; 2006. Available from: http://ethnobiology.net/code-of-ethics/ [accessed: Feb. 15, 2021].

16. Khanjyan N.S. Cyperaceae. In: A.L. Takhtajan (ed.). Flora of Armenia. Vol. 10. Yerevan; 2001. p.412-529. [in Russian].

17. Konovalova N.I. Dictionary of Ural folk plant names (Slovar narodnykh nazvaniy rasteniy Urala). Yeka terinburg: Ural State Pedagogical University; 2000. [in Russian].

18. Manakyan V.A. Materials to the flora of Armenia (Materialy k flore Armenii). Scientific Proceedings of Yerevan State University. 1982;3:131-134. [in Russian].

19. Mandenova I.P. Apiaceae: Heracleum. In: A.L. Takhtajan (ed.). Flora of Armenia. Vol. 6. Yerevan; 1973. p.411-418. [in Russian].

20. Marjanyan K.S. “Botany or flora of Armenia” by Stepanos Sharimanyan. Yerevan: Magaghat; 2008. [in Russian].

21. Melkum yan I.S. Wild edible plants of the Ararat kettle. Flora, Vegetation and Plant Resources of Armenia. 1991;13:228-247. [in Russian].

22. Mulkijanyan Y.I. Ebenaceae. In: A.L. Takhtajan (ed.). Flora of Armenia. Vol. 6. Yerevan; 1973a. p. 18-20. [in Russian].

23. Mulkijanyan Y.I. Elaeagnaceae. In: A.L. Takhtajan (ed.). Flora of Armenia. Vol. 6. Yerevan; 1973b. p.457-459. [in Russian].

24. Nesbitt M. Us e of herbarium specimens in ethnobotany. In: M.J. Salick, K. Konchar, M. Nesbitt (eds). Curating Biocultural Collections: A Handbook. Chapter 22. Kew, S urrey: Royal Botanic Gardens; 2014. p.312-328. DOI: 10.14434/mar.v10i2.21770

25. Núñez D.R., Séiquer G.M., Obón C., Ariza F.A. Plants and humans in the Near East and the Caucasus. Ancient and traditional uses of plants as food and medicine, a diachronic ethnobotanical review (in 2 vol.). Murcia Unverisdad de Murcia; 2011.

26. Pieroni A., Hovsepyan R., Manduzai A.K. et al. Wild food plants traditionally gathered in central Armenia: archaic ingredients or future sustainable foods? Environment, Development and Sustainability. 2021;23(1):2358-2381. DOI: 10.1007/s10668-020-00678-1

27. Piskunova S.V., Makhracheva T.V., Gubareva V.V. Dictionary of the dialects of Tambov (spiritual and material culture) (Slovar tambovskikh govorov [dukhovnaya i materialnaya kultura]). Tambov: Tambov State University; 2002. [in Russian].

28. Schсhian A.S. Cannabiaceae. In: A.L. Takhtajan (ed.). Flora of Armenia. Vol. 4. Yerevan; 1962. p.360-365. [in Russian].

29. Stepanyan-Gandilyan N.P. Floristic novelties for Anthemideae Cass. tribe (Asteraceae) in Armenian flora. Takhtajania. 2019;5:20-26 [in Russian].

30. Stepanyan-Gandilyan N.P. New data on some families of the Armenian flora. Takhtajania. 2016;3:138-141. [in Russian].

31. Stepanyan-Gandilyan N.P. New data on the geographical distribution of some species of the Armenian flora. Reports of National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. 2017;117(3):273-278. [in Russian].

32. Takhtajan A.L. Biosystematics: Past, present and future (Biosistematika: Proshloye, nastoyashcheye i budushcheye). Botanicheskii zhurnal = Botanical Journal. 1970;55(3):331-344. [in Russian].

33. Takhtajan A.L. Ranunculaceae. In: A.L. Takhtajan (ed.). Flora of Armenia. Vol. 1. Yerevan; 1954. p.120-223. [in Russian].

34. Takhtajan A.L. Towards the universal evolutional science (Na puti k universalnoy evolyutsionnoy nauke). In: Fa cets of evolution: Articles on the theory of evolution (Grani evolyutsii: Statyi po teorii evolyutsii). St. Petersburg: Nauka; 2007. p.209-285. [in Russian].