Journal ()f Ethnobiology 24(2): 279-306 Fall/Winter 2004 OF "CLIMBING PEANUTS' AND 'DOG'S TESTICLES', MESTIZO AND SHUAR PLANT NOMENCLATURE IN ECUADOR VEERLE VAN DEN EYNDEN/ EDUARDO CUEVA}' and OMAR CABRERA' • Department of and Agriculture mul EthnotJotany, Jm".¥'r':ifu of Gent, Bt'lgium b Funduci6n CienttfU:a [()j,?, Ecuador <eculwafcsfii;.hotmail. com.> c Herbario tajal Unirx:rsidad Nacimull de Ecuador <
[email protected].> ABSTRACT-A total of 411 vernacular names were recorded for 354 edible non- crop plant that are used by nonmdigenous mestizo pl"{Jple and in<ligieO()U8 Shuar in southern lVfestizo plant names, predominantly :>p,am.sh, are often formed through borrowing from native languages, or ne- These are mechanisms typically vs,,'-d by immigrants to name unknown plants. Mestizo names show different of regional variability, though many are shared throughout the region, Vegetation diversity of an area InlJuenccs the divcrsity of local plant names, Indigenous Shuar p€()ple use only Shuar plant names, which show little variation within the area they inhabit. A comparison of mestizo and Shuar naming pra(,;tlces suggest'> that mestizo people arE:' more likely to give the same name to different plant species and to use more bino.rniaI names than Shuar people do. Keywords: common name, edible plant Ecuador, mestizo, Shuaf, RESUMEN.-Se 411 nombre; vernaculos a 354 ,,";;- de plantas silvestres utilizados por los mestizos y los indfgenas del sur del Ecuador. Los nombres ta mayoTta en espanol, se ori- ginan frecuenternente pDf Iransposici6n, (> son nombres tornados d~' lenguas indigenas. Los inmigrantes suelen utilizar estoo procesos crear nom- bres de plantas desconocidas, Los nombres mestizos muestran gradoSl de variaci6n regional, aunque muchos son wmpartidos pm toda la region.