Results of ethnobotanical research of The Arsiani and Adjara-Shavsheti Ranges

The article is published within the Batumi International Conference - "Study, Protection, Preservation, Wise Use of Separate Components of Biodiversity".

The use of plants in Georgia has been relevant for centuries. Especially in Colchis, which is rich in valuable woody, essential oil, medicinal, tanning, food, dye, fodder and other plant resources. In order to introduce, collect and share the existing ethnobotanical knowledge among the population, field researches were carried out on the Arsiani and Adjara-Shavsheti ranges, At an altitude of 1800-2300 m, on the summer pastures of Chirukhi, Macharelati, Sarichairi, Tsiphlnari, Shuamta and Tetrobi, in June-September of year 2022 and 2023. Traditional ethnobotanical knowledge is still preserved among the population of these areas, which is lost over time. For the research, we used route expedition method, ethnobotanical survey with pre-made questionnaire and interview recording. Herbarium material was collected for plant species identification, which was processed and reserved in Herbarium Fund of Batumi Botanical Garden (BATU). Identification of plants, we used Identifier of plants of Georgia (1964-1969), Flora of Georgia (1971-2011) and Identifier of plants of Adjara (Dmitrieva, 1990). As a result of the research, information was collected about 47 species that belong to 41 families and 22 genera. Among of 47 species, tree – 3, tree-shrub – 2, shrub – 6, semi-shrub - 1, shrub-grass – 1, grass – 34, of these coniferous tree – 2, deciduous tree – 1, deciduous tree-shrub – 1, evergreen tree-shrub – 1, deciduous shrub – 6, perennial shrub-grass – 1, perennial semi-shrub – 1, perennial grass – 30, Bi-perennial grass – 1, biennial grass – 1, annual grass – 2.

Medicinal - 35, food - 15, technical – 3 species.

Among of 37 species Caucasus endemic 6 species and Georgia 1 species. 2 species is protected by the "Red List" of Georgia and 14 species are protected by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).