The present work summarises preliminary results of an ethnobotanical study in the Rhodope Mountains. The aim was to assess the traditional home use of medicinal plants for herbal tea by local people and to estimate the threats to the Balkan endemic Clinopodium dalmaticum. Semi-structured interviews with local informants from 15 localities in Central and Eastern Rhodope Mountains were performed in 2015 and 2018. As a result, the most used plant species were listed. The major source of plants was recorded as being gathered from the wild. The plants, known with the local names “wild mint” and “white mint”, were identified as Clinopodium dalmaticum from dried specimens presented by informants in Central Rhodopes. A frequent collection from wild populations of C. dalmaticum in Central Rhodope Mts. (Smoljan region) was revealed along with just a few cases of cultivation close to the studied sites.

sustainable use, medicinal plants, plant collection, herbal tea, Clinopodium dalmaticum

The Rhodopes are located in the southern part of Bulgaria and Northern Greece. The mild climate and the geomorphological history of the mountain contribute to its high biological diversity with numerous rare and endemic species (Petrova and Vladimirov 2010). Even though a process of depopulation of Bulgarian villages in recent decades is a fact, the Rhodopes remain the most inhabited mountain in Bulgaria (Mladenov and Ilieva 2012) with diverse habitats (Assenov et al. 2016) and vivid traditions with rapid development of tourism (Lulcheva and Aleksandrov 2017). For this reason, urgent efforts for preservation of its bio-cultural diversity are necessary. The specific Bulgarian traditional knowledge about medicinal plants is still alive there.

Clinopodium dalmaticum (Benth.) Bräuchler and Heubl (syn. Micromeria dalmatica Benth.) is a Balkan endemic species occurring only in Bulgaria, Greece, Crete and Montenegro (Euro+Med PlantBase 2011). It is a perennial plant growing on dry and sunny habitats on the mountain slopes. Its natural distribution in Bulgaria is restricted mainly to the southern part of the country (Ancev 1989). The medicinal potential of the plant has been investigated. Phytochemical composition of the species and biological activity of its extracts have provoked substantial interest (Tomas-Barberan et al. 1991, Marin et al. 2001, Slavkovska et al. 2001, Kostadinova et al. 2005, Karousou et al. 2010, Bukvicki et al. 2015, Nikolova et al. 2016). The composition of the essential oil of C. dalmaticum has been well studied (Kostadinova et al. 2005, Karousou et al. 2010, Nikolova et al. 2016, Radulović and Blagojević 2012). Data concerning flavonoid composition of the species have also been previously studied (Tomas-Barberan et al. 1991, Marin et al. 2001, Nikolova et al. 2017). Studies of the metabolic profile of C. dalmaticum and its variability are still insufficient (Nikolova et al. 2016, Aneva et al. 2016). As a result of our ethnobotanical research in the Rhodopes (Mincheva et al. 2016), we also detected an active collection of C. dalmaticum. Although this plant is not listed in the Bulgarian Red Data List (Petrova and Vladimirov 2009), it is one of the characteristic taxa of the Red Data Book habitats, categorised as Vulnerable, namely “Ultrabasic rocks with pioneer herbaceous vegetation” (Dimitrov and Pavlova 2011). Due to the fact that the plant is used traditionally as a herb, there is a danger of its becoming a vulnerable medicinal plant as is the case of Sideritis scardica (Yordanova and Apostolova 2000).

The aim of the ethnobotanical study is to investigate the traditional home use of medicinal and aromatic plants in the Rhodope Mts. A special emphasis on the Balkan endemic Clinopodium dalmaticum is made, in order to evaluate the danger to its wild populations and thus to contribute to its sustainable use and conservation.

Study sites. The present study is part of a larger ethnobotanical survey carried out in different localities of Rhodpe Mts. for 30 selected study sites both in Central and East Rhodopes (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. 

Study sites.

Semi-structured interviews with 53 people (male and female, average age of 60) were performed. Thirty settlements in Eastern Rhodopes and in Smoljan region provisionally marked as Central Rhodopes were visited from June till September in 2014 and 2015. Informants were asked: 1) what plant species they use to prepare herbal tea; 2) to point the origin of the plants, wild or cultivated and 3) their exact local names. Data from audio records of the interviews were transformed in Microsoft Excel tables. Descriptive statistics were used to determine relative frequencies of anecdotal reports expressed as a percentage.

Additionally, semi-structured interviews strictly focusing on the usage of Clinopodium dalmaticum were performed in 2018 with 59 people (male and female, average age of 41) in the Smoljan region provisionally marked as Central Rhodopes.

The plants known with the local names “Wild mint” and “White mint” were identified as Clinopodium dalmaticum by dried specimens presented by informants in Central Rhodopes (Fig. 2).

Figure 2. 

Dried plant material of Clinopodium dalmaticum known by the informants as “Wild mint”or “White mint”.

Clinopodium dalmaticum is collected as a medicinal and aromatic plant and is used as a sedative and against gastric disorders. It is actively collected from its wild populations, including for trading, which is a hazard for them which can result as a “danger to its existence”. There is an increasing necessity for monitoring its natural localities. Cultivation of this species must also be initiated with regard to the sustainable use of this medicinal plant with restricted distribution. There is a good existing practice with the similar case for Sideritis scardica (Evstatieva and Popova 1998, Evstatieva 2009, Kozuharova 2009, Evstatieva and Alipieva 2011).