New historical evidences of the 18th century on presence of “thistles” in Argentina and its ethnobotanical implications

Abstract

Background and aims: Currently, many species, native and alien, called “thistles” are widely distributed in Argentina. During 18th Century several Jesuit publications mentioned “thistles” in this country, as the illustrated work made by Florian Paucke. The main goal of this work is to gather, from writing sources of the 18th Century, plant records called as “thistles” or similar names; secondly, to identify at species level the plant entities mentioned by Paucke as “azafrán”, “cardo”, and “cardo hortense”; and finally, to discuss ethnobotanical implications.

M&M: The study area included Argentina from the southern Pampean region to the Chacoan region. Bibliography, historical evidences of the 18^th Century from the study area, herbarium materials and their morphology were analyzed, and field trips were made.

Results: Entities “azafrán alazor”, “azafrán de Indias” or “azafrán paracuario” by Paucke were identified as Carthamus tinctorius (“safflower”, Compositae), and “cardo” and “cardo hortense” as Cynara cardunculus (Compositae), associated with varieties sylvestris (“thistle”) and scolymus (“artichoke”), respectively. “Cardo santo” named by Pedro de Montenegro was associated to Argemone subfusiformis (Papaveraceae). Twelves new medicinal and food uses of the aboriginal Moqoit from the Chaco of Argentina were recorded.

Conclusions: Identified “thistles”, native and introduced, were used for medicinal and nutritional purposes during the colonial period, and incorporated at aboriginal missions by Jesuit priests. Carthamus tinctorius and Cynara cardunculus may have been introduced in order to be used in orchards and later on have escaped of the cultivation areas.