“Cow Healers Use It for Both Horses and Cattle”: The Rise and Fall of the Ethnoveterinary Use of IPeucedanum ostruthium/I in Sweden

Masterwort, Peucedanum ostruthium (L.) Koch, is an Apiaceae species originally native to the mountain areas of central and southern Europe. Written sources show that it was used in northern Europe. This study explores the cultivation history of masterwort and its past use in Sweden. Although only fe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plants (Basel) 2022-12, Vol.12 (1)
Main Authors: de Vahl, Erik, Mattalia, Giulia, Svanberg, Ingvar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Forecasts and trends
Veterinary medicine
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Masterwort, Peucedanum ostruthium (L.) Koch, is an Apiaceae species originally native to the mountain areas of central and southern Europe. Written sources show that it was used in northern Europe. This study explores the cultivation history of masterwort and its past use in Sweden. Although only few details are known about the history of this taxon, it represents a cultural relict plant of an intentionally introduced species known in Sweden as early as the Middle Ages. In Sweden, the masterwort was mainly used as an ethnoveterinary herbal remedy from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. However, medicinal manuals, pharmacopoeias and some ethnographical records indicate that it was once also used in remedies for humans. Today, this species remains as a living biocultural heritage in rural areas, especially on the surviving shielings, which were once used as mountain pastures in Dalecarlia, and at former crofts that were inhabited by cattle owners in the forest areas of southern Sweden.
ISSN:2223-7747
2223-7747
DOI:10.3390/plants12010116