Medicinal plants used in the Uzunköprü district of Edirne , Turkey

Abstract This study examined the use of plants in Uzunköprü and surrounding villages in the years 2013–2015 during the flowering and fruiting season of the studied plants (March–October). Interviews were carried out face-to-face with members of the community. Fifty-seven people in 55 villages were interviewed. Overall, medicinal plants from 96 taxa belonging to 45 families were recorded. Traditional medicinal plants were used to treat 80 diseases and ailments such as diabetes, cold, flu, cough, stomachache, and hemorrhoids. According to the results, the largest eight families are Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Ranunculaceae, Malvaceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Brassicaceae. The most commonly used species were Anthemis cretica subsp. tenuiloba, Cotinus coggyria, Datura stramonium, Ecballium elaterium, Hypericum perforatum, Prunus spinosa, Pyrus elaeagnifolia subsp. bulgarica, Rosa canina, Sambucus ebulus, Tribulus terestris, Urtica dioica. The herbarium numbers, Latin and local names, families, village numbers, parts used, usage forms, and uses were listed alphabetically in a table. In this study, 219 local names were identified.


Introduction
Turkey is rich in flora and approximately 12 000 species of plants are growing there naturally [1][2][3][4][5].Thanks to its geographical location, geomorphologic structure, and influence of various climate types.
Taxonomy generally starts with Theophrastus (around 370-287 BC).However, people who cultured various plants and used natural resources for medical purpose in Anatolia, China, Egypt, and Central America around 8000 BC definitely had a rich knowledge on plant uses.Hippocrates (460-377 BC) lived on Kos (İstanköy) Island, which is across Bodrum.Also, Dioscorides (30-90 AD), a doctor who was born near Tarsus (Cilicia) and lived in Anatolia, described approximately 600 plants with medical properties.He wrote a book entitled De materia medica and this work has been the guidebook for doctors for 15 centuries.In this book, mostly Mediterranean plants were described.For instance, the picture and properties of Mandragora (mandrake) plant is presented in this book.This scholar, who travelled a lot, visited Greece, Italy, France, and Turkey.In the Middle Ages, Avicenna's (980-1037 AD) book entitled The canon of medicine was the greatest classic.In the twelfth century, ibn Al-Awam described approximately 600 plants [6,7].
Plants have been used by human beings for centuries.In Anatolia, the first ethnobotanical studies have been mostly on medicinal plants [8,9].Local people are using the plants which grow naturally in proximity for many purposes, for example for medicine, food, fodder, decoration, fuel, toys, crafts, and ornaments.The studies performed in recent years exhibit the considerable importance of the utilization of the plants by the

Study site
The study was carried out in March-October in the years of 2013-2015, the seasons when the plants are in bloom and bear fruits, in Uzunköprü and surrounding villages.Uzunköprü is a district of Edirne, which is located in Thrace, the European part of Turkey (41°16'17" N and 26°41'69" E) (Fig. 1).It has an area of 1224 km 2 and an altitude of about 18 m a.s.l.The majority of the population consists of the immigrants from the Balkans.There are many Turkish immigrants from Bulgaria, Jugoslavia, Greece, and Romania in the area.There are 55 villages and its population is 63 193 according to the address-based census of 2014.The Uzunköprü Mountains are located southeast of the district.They are covered with oak forests and shrubland.Süleymaniye Hill is the highest point that is 378 m [45].In this place, Mediterranean and continental climates meet with each other.Summers are hot, the winters are cold and snowy.Most rain falls in spring.The highest temperature throughout the year is 41.5°C (July) and the lowest −22.2°C (January).The natural vegetation is steppe.The district's land consists of meadows and pastures (15%), forest and heathland (10%), and agriculture (75%) [49].
The Ergene River basin has been determined as "important plant areas of Turkey".The European part of Turkey (Thrace) covers 23 500 km 2 and has approximately 2500 vascular plant species belonging to 145 families [50].

Field study
In this study, 55 villages were visited and interviews were performed with elderly people of the villages, 57 persons in total, in various places such as at their own houses, in the fields, and tea houses.Interviews were carried out face-to-face with the community.The detailed questions were asked how and when the useful and harmful plants are used.The characteristics of the people participating are shown in Tab. 1.The numbers representing each village are given below.At the end of the field studies, 257 specimens were collected.The identification of the plant species determined to be in use was based on Flora of Turkey and East Aegean Islands [1,2,4], The flora of European Turkey [3], the list of flowering plants and ferns of Thrace (unpublished material), and List of Turkey plants [5].The voucher specimens are kept in Trakya University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany.

Results
In Uzunköprü district and its villages, 96 plant taxa belonging to 45 families were used by the local people (Tab.2).The herbarium numbers, Latin name of the plants, local names, families, village number, part used, usage form, and uses were listed alphabetically.Among them, 66 taxa are wild and 30 taxa are cultivated plants.Eighty diseases are cured by the plants used.In this study, 219 local plant names were determined.
Some medicinal plants are used together (as multiherbal mix).Their names and usage purposes are given in Tab. 3.

Discussion
As much as 80% of Uzunköprü land is arable.The Ergene Plain occupies a part of the lands in Uzunköprü district.The Ergene River carries alluvion to the plain when it overflows.For this reason, the soil of the plain is highly fertile and appropriate for all kinds of plant production.In irrigated farming, vegetables, fruits, rice, corn, sunflower, sugar beet, trefoil, broad bean and pea, zucchini, and especially gardens are grown.In dry farming, on the other hand, crop, wheat, barley, grape, corn, sunflower, chickpea, lentil, sainfoin, vetch, bitter vetch, melon, and watermelon are grown.Those counted are the plants which are grown to provide financial income.Apart from these, people can grow any cultivated plant they want in their garden and field.As these plants are sufficient for daily life, wild plants are not needed to be benefited from.The fact that soil is fertile has increased both the level of income and the purchasing power of people.

Fruits and seeds
Boiled grape juice; to make wine; seeds crushed and eaten with honey; seed decoction Anaemia, cardiovascular diseases, beautifies the skin, revitalizes hair, cancer [45] Nowadays, it has become pretty easy to reach shopping centres and hospitals.Therefore, benefiting from natural plants is about to be forgotten.The information given here is obtained from elders and barely known by the young.It is elders again who benefit from these plants for various purposes today.With this study, the information obtained from elders will be recorded and transmitted to the next generations, therefore, it will not disappear.
In conclusion, in this study, 96 folk medicinal plants belonging to 45 families have been presented.For 31 of them, no records about their use were found in previous studies in Thrace.This information is expected to be tested pharmacologically in the future.

Tab. 1
Demographic characteristics of the participants.