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Two hundred years of plant blindness in Baden (Germany)-from C.C. Gmelin´s 1817 "Nothülfe gegen Misswachs" to the post Covid-19 foraging hype, including a preliminary Checklist of the Flora of Karlsruhe

Bussmann, Rainer W. ; Müller, Lea; Obel, Carolin 1; Özcan, Selin; Bänsch, Jonas; Obel, Carolin; Staub, Lorraine; Bellemann, Laure; Lennox, Audrex; Riemann, Maren; Petry, Rainer; Müller, Peter; Franz, Josef
1 Institut für Geographie und Geoökologie (IFGG), Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Abstract:

Background: Plants have been used for centuries in almost all cultures worldwide as traditional medicines to cure many chronic infections, including viral diseases. In recent decades, scientists have been attempting to scientifically validate the health-improving potential of functional and nutraceutical foods. At the same time, lockdowns due to SARS-CoV-2 had a profound influence on urban foraging behavior. On the other hand, 21 century plant blindness has been well documented. Our hypothesis however was that this is not the case, and that plant blindness, especially in more urban environments, is not a new phenomenon at all. During the curatorial work it became evident that the first director of the collection, CC Gmelin also focused on ethnobotanical topics to improve livelihoods and increase government revenue, publishing a foraging volume in 1817 to remedy the effects of the Napoleonic Wars and the "Summer without harvest" caused by the 1815 Tambora eruption. The pure fact that such a volume was of interest in 1817 seems to proof our hypothesis that plant blindness is by no means a recent phenomenon. Thus, we decided to have a closer look at the volume and to compare the indications given with more recent uses of the respective species.
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Verlagsausgabe §
DOI: 10.5445/IR/1000187307
Veröffentlicht am 01.12.2025
Cover der Publikation
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Geographie und Geoökologie (IFGG)
Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Publikationsdatum 22.09.2025
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator ISSN: 1547-3465
KITopen-ID: 1000187307
Erschienen in Ethnobotany Research and Applications
Verlag Ethnobotany Research and Applications
Band 32
Seiten 1
Vorab online veröffentlicht am 17.09.2025
Nachgewiesen in OpenAlex
Dimensions
Scopus
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