Traditional Knowledge and Biocultural Roles of Edible Flowers in Local Food Systems of Baise City, Guangxi, China.
Shen W, Cen X, Wang Z, Saensouk P, Saensouk S, Junsongduang A, Srisuk P, Thanakornjuk K, Jitpromma T.
Ethnobotany
Dozens of the wild flowers locals in Guangxi have eaten for generations—gathered from roadsides and forests, not farms—turn out to have strong community consensus as medicines, pointing foragers toward an entire pharmacopoeia hiding in plain sight.
Scientists interviewed local people in a region of southern China and found they regularly eat 96 different kinds of flowers—from wild fields and forests, not grocery stores. Most of these flowers serve multiple purposes: food, tea, natural dye, or home remedy. The community showed strong agreement on which flowers treat which ailments, suggesting this knowledge is reliable and worth preserving before it disappears.
Key Findings
96 edible flower taxa from 44 plant families were documented, most native to China, wild-harvested, and herbaceous in growth form.
64 of the 96 taxa (two-thirds) are recognized locally as medicinal edible plants, with high Informant Consensus Factor scores indicating strong community agreement on their therapeutic uses.
Species including Emilia sonchifolia (lilac tasselflower), Plantago asiatica (Asian plantain), and Solanum americanum (black nightshade) ranked highest in cultural food significance.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers documented 96 edible flower species used in traditional food and medicine in Baise City, southern China, revealing a rich but under-recorded botanical heritage spanning vegetables, teas, colorants, and remedies—nearly two-thirds of these species double as medicinal plants.
Abstract Preview
Edible flowers are important components of traditional food systems and biocultural practices in southern China, yet their ethnobotanical significance remains poorly documented. This study investig...
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Emilia sonchifolia, also known as lilac tasselflower or cupid's shaving brush, is a tropical flowering species of tasselflower in the sunflower family. It is a branching, annual herb up to 40 cm tall. The leaves are lyrate-pinnatilobed, up to 10 cm (4 in) long, sometimes becoming purplish as they...