Ethnobotanical study on the area of the G.E. Ghirardi botanical garden (Brescia, Italy)

The Botanical Garden G.E. Ghirardi in Toscolano Maderno (Brescia, Italy) was founded in 1964 as an experimental botanical station of the SIMES pharmaceutical company. It was donated to the University of Milan in 1991. The last work of taxonomic revision of the species has been carried out in 2000. In this context, the project 'GE Ghirardi Botanical Garden: taxonomic revision for the proper conservation and enhancement of natural heritage', is in progress. It provides, in addition to the other objectives, an ethnobotanical study on the species present in the Garden, traditionally used by local people. Inhabitants (50 interviews) of this area still collect plants to employ as cure for several ailments, in cookery and rituals. Information concerning 5 species (Sambucus racemosa L., Sempervivum montanum L., Equisetum arvense L., Rhododendron ferrugineum L., Laurus nobilis L. and Panicum miliaceum L.) was never ghatered by other ethnobotanical investigations realised in the Italian alpine area. Nevertheless, the value of the ethnobotanicity index was 5.2%. This suggests that the species known and used in the popular tradition are not many, in accordance with data reported for other Italian areas (Guarrera et al., 2008). The Botanical Garden also has many species with a wide geographical distribution (for example, Zingiber officinale Roscoe and Coffea arabica L.), which allow to highlight the traditions of populations away from local reality and the acquired uses in our territory.