Food Plants of the Pasturelands

Food Plants of the Pasturelands:

Exploring the Biocultural

Dynamics of Wild Plant Foods in

Valverde de Burguillos,

Extremadura, Spain

Nathaniel C. Maddix

MSc Ethnobotany 2015 University of Kent Canterbury School of Anthropology and Conservation

Food Plants of the Pasturelands: Exploring the Biocultural Dynamics of Wild Plant Foods in Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, Spain

Nathaniel C. Maddix September 2014 –September 2015.

This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree requirements for the 2015 MSc Ethnobotany programme: The University of Kent at Canterbury and The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

Supervisor: Dr. Rajindra K. Puri School of Anthropology and Conservation Centre for Biocultural Diversity University of Kent Canterbury, UK

Co-supervisor: Dr. Rufino Acosta Naranjo Departamento de Antropología Social Facultad de Geografía e Historia Universidad de Sevilla, Spain

Word Count: 15,922 (excluding cover pages, abstract, acknowledgements, references, and appendices).

Cover photo: Cattle grazing in Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) pastureland, Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, Spain: May 2015.

Abstract

This research project explores the topic of wild plant consumption in a small rural community of Southern Spain. In present times, a variety of socio-economic, ecological, and historical factors have altered the relationship between rural communities and their biophysical environment, and this has in turn affected the transmission and maintenance of local environmental knowledge (LEK). The intention of this dissertation is to outline the local knowledge and customs relating to the consumption of select wild plant species in the Spanish village of Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, and to present an insider’s perspective as to how customs and understandings have been affected in recent times. This dissertation includes the current prevalence of use, and the local knowledge surrounding 10 wild food plant species. Participants’ perceptions about the factors contributing to wild plant consumption, and the contemporary transformations affecting local knowledge are presented and examined. The discussion of change presented in the current work supports the view that cultural and biological diversity are interrelated concepts whose contemporary erosion is caused by common factors. This dissertation substantiates the co- evolutionary character of cultural knowledge and biological environments. The result of this research project and dissertation is a contextualised account of the biocultural dynamics related to the shifting knowledge and consumption of wild plant foods in Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, Spain.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the help and participation of many people without whom this research could not have taken place. I am extremely indebted to the people of the community of Valverde de Burguillos for their generosity, kindness, and seemingly unrestrained willingness to assist me throughout the process of this research project. I am forever grateful for the graciousness that I was shown by the people of Valverde, not only for the help they provided in completion of this project, but also for the responsiveness and understanding I was extremely fortunate to receive from everyone I encountered. The people I met and friendships gained were perhaps the most important and touching aspects of this entire experience.

My sincere and immense gratitude goes out to José Antonio, Clara, and their family for their support, time, patience and willingness to help me in countless ways. I can say with all certainty that my project could never have taken place without their help, and I am extremely privileged to have met and been assisted by such incredibly thoughtful people.

I would also like to extend much appreciation to my project advisors Dr. Rajindra K. Puri at the University of Kent, and Dr. Rufino Acosta Naranjo at the Universidad de Sevilla, both of whom have guided me immensely and have done so much to clarify this project and teach me about the applied practice of conducting ethnobotanical research. This project would have been a failure without their help, and I have learned a great deal from their supervision.

Much appreciation is given to the other lecturers in the Ethnobotany programme, Dr. Miguel Alexiades, Dr. Anna Waldstein, and Dr. Mark Nesbitt and the lecturers at Kew, who have been informative, instructive, and inspirational throughout the past academic year. Finally, thank-you to my colleagues and friends at the University of Kent, especially those who helped with support, feedback, and editing on this dissertation.

Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...... 1 1.1. Research Aims and Objectives ...... 2 1.2. Theoretical Framework ...... 3

1.2.1. Biocultural Diversity ...... 3 1.2.2. Biocultural Diversity Loss ...... 4 1.3. Local Environmental Knowledge ...... 5 1.4. LEK in Europe ...... 7 1.5. Wild Plants ...... 7 1.6. Plants and LEK ...... 8 2. Social-Ecological Context ...... 11 2.1. Agroecosystems and the Spanish Dehesa ...... 11 2.2. Agrarian Transition ...... 13 2.2.1. Agrarian Transition and the Dehesa ...... 15 3. Research Project ...... 17 3.1. Field Site: Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, Spain ...... 17 3.1.1. History ...... 17 3.1.2. Population ...... 18 3.1.3. Local Environment ...... 18 3.1.4. Climate ...... 20 3.1.5. Comments ...... 20 3.2. Fieldwork ...... 20 3.2.1. Methods ...... 21

3.2.2. Criteria for Interview Participants ...... 21

3.2.3. Limitations ...... 22 4. Dynamics of Edible Wild Plant Knowledge ...... 24 5. Profiles of Select Wild Plant-Food Species ...... 27

Allium ampeloprasum L...... 28

Quercus ilex L...... 29

Nasturtium officinale W.T. Aiton ...... 30

Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke ...... 32

Asparagus alba L...... 32

Asparagus acutifolius L...... 32

Foeniculum vulgare Mill...... 34

Rumex pulcher L...... 35

Scolymus hispanicus L...... 36

Thymus mastichina (L.) L...... 37 5. The Alteration of LEK ...... 39 5.1. Former lifestyle and livelihoods ...... 39 5.2. Population trends ...... 40 5.3. Changes in livelihood ...... 41 5.4. Introduction of new technologies ...... 42 5.5. Global food supply ...... 43 5.6. New directions in wild plant consumption ...... 44 5.6.1. Wild mushrooms ...... 45 5.7. Discussion ...... 45 6. Conclusion ...... 47 6.1. Results ...... 47

References ...... 49 Appendix 1: Complete table of edible plants ...... 55 Appendix 2: Additional plant profiles ...... 56 Appendix 3 Additional figures ...... 58

Chapter 1: Introduction

The ethnobotanical study presented here, and indeed most modern ethnobotanical investigations, is concerned with the exploration of ‘human-plant interrelationships embedded in dynamic ecosystems of natural and social components,’ (Alcorn 1995:24). The central questions that this investigation addresses are: (1) the human use and perception of plant resources; (2) the maintenance and management of these resources; (3) the effect of management on plant populations and vegetative composition; and importantly, (4) the distribution of ethnobotanical knowledge within human populations (ibid). These issues involve some of the fundamental themes in contemporary ethnobotanical research.

This research project examines these issues through an exploration of the topic of wild plant consumption in the community of Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, Spain. At first, one may be inclined to think that most ethnobotanical investigations take place in the tropical or sub-tropical environments of the world among indigenous or aboriginal societies. However, the study of European ethnobotanical traditions is a rich area of scholarship that has only just begun to receive due attention; indeed, the complex human history, varied geography and diverse cultural traditions of Europe have ‘led to a multitude of ecological conditions, agroecosystems, cultures and ethnobotanical traditions,’ (Pardo- de-Santayana et al. 2010:2). In many rural communities across European societies, wild plant resources still hold an important role in cultural heritage; however, many of these traditions have long been in decline and the prospect of their maintenance into the future is unclear (ibid:1). All these conditions make contemporary European societies vibrant and multifaceted subjects of contemporary ethnobotanical research.

The custom of wild plant food consumption in Europe is a dynamic and changing practice that reflects rich historical traditions and rapid contemporary transformations (e.g. Łuczaj et al. 2012). In present times, a variety of socio-economic, ecological, and historical factors have altered the relationship between rural communities and their biophysical environment, and this has in turn affected the transmission and maintenance of local environmental knowledge (LEK). Bearing this in mind, the intent of this research project is to describe the changes in wild plant consumption as it is understood by local people in one rural community in order to better comprehend the extant biocultural dynamics of wild plant consumption. Thus, the investigation is concerned with two basic lines of inquiry: (1) the

1 status of local ethnobotanical knowledge relating to wild plant foods including the current customs involving their consumption; and (2) the perception amongst local people as to what affects the maintenance and transformation of this knowledge and practice.

Therefore, the intention of this dissertation is to outline the local knowledge and customs relating to the consumption of select wild plant species in the Spanish village of Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, and to present an insider’s perspective as to how customs and understandings have been affected in recent times. The first half of this paper will provide an introduction to the academic theories and concepts that are involved in the current work. General definitions and relevant literature will be summarized for the central concepts of local knowledge systems and utilization of wild plant foods. Afterwards, a contextual background of the social-ecological environment in which this investigation takes place will be discussed, concluding with theories and empirical evidence of the socio-economic and ecological drivers of change that have greatly affected local knowledge and customs. In the second half of this dissertation the original data obtained from fieldwork will be presented. Profiles of 10 wild food plants are provided to communicate the dynamics of knowledge, use, and alteration within the LEK system of Valverde de Burguillos. The descriptions of the extant knowledge and consumption of these plant species is integrated with the interview participants’ emic perceptions and explanations regarding the factors contributing to socio-economic and ecological change.

The discussion of change presented in the current work supports the view that cultural and biological diversity are interrelated concepts whose contemporary erosion is caused by common factors. This dissertation substantiates the co-evolutionary character of cultural knowledge and biological environments. The result of this research project is a contextualized account of the present dynamics surrounding the utilization of wild plant foods in the social-ecological environment of one rural village in south-western Spain.

1.1. Research Aim and Objectives

The aim of the research project was to describe the current condition of local knowledge involving wild plant foods and the present customs relating to their utilization in local diets. This was achieved by the completion of established research objectives using standard anthropological and ethnobotanical methodology (discussed in Chapter 3). Hence, the aim of the investigation was as follows:

Aim: To discover the extant biocultural dynamics of wild plant food knowledge and consumption in the dehesa agroecosystem of Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, Spain.

Objectives: 1. identify wild plant foods presently and formerly consumed; 2. record and discuss the local knowledge surrounding wild plant food species; 3. ascertain local perceptions of the factors influencing the consumption and familiarity of wild plant foods, including the maintenance and transformation of local knowledge

1.2. Theoretical Framework

The foundational theoretical framework that guided this research project is that of biocultural diversity, a perspective that emphasizes the co-evolutionary nature of human culture and the biophysical environment. This co-evolutionary perspective supports a holistic understanding of the dynamics relating to local knowledge of wild plants. It informs us how cultural knowledge is linked to agricultural practices, and illuminates the relationship between human societies and biological ecosystems. The original ethnographic data obtained during fieldwork were also interpreted and framed with the insights of other theoretical perspectives and concepts; including: rural and agrarian change, agroecosystems, and traditional knowledge systems.

1.2.1. Biocultural Diversity

Biocultural diversity is the idea that the expression of life’s diversity includes cultural and linguistic diversity in addition to biological diversity; moreover, all these elements are inextricably linked within a complex, adaptive network of social and ecological components (Maffi 2005). Important to this investigation is the idea that all these diversities share common threats: threats to biological diversity are the same as those to cultural and linguistic diversity (ibid). It is now generally agreed that human actions on the environment are not distinct from nature, and the way societies develop, and the possibilities of what they will become, is intricately connected with the bio-geophysical environment in which they have evolved (Roué 2006). This type of theoretical perspective eliminates the pervasive conceptual dichotomy between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ (ibid), and

3 emphasizes that these two concepts are really just aspects of a single entity, biocultural diversity: the result of interrelated evolutionary processes between human society and social-ecological environments (Loh & Harmon 2014). The theoretical framework of biocultural diversity is appropriate to communicate the interconnected dynamics involving aspects of landscape, culture, plant species and populations, and local knowledge, that are integral to this investigation. The co-evolutionary relationships between society and the biophysical environment will be illuminated in the contextualized account presented in this dissertation, especially in the case of the common threats to biological and cultural diversity, and the socio-cultural and environmental consequences related to the loss of these interrelated diversities (Maffi 2005: 600).

1.2.2. Biocultural Diversity Loss Human activities have caused profound changes in the structure and functioning of the earth’s varied ecosystems, and these actions have greatly accelerated the rate of biodiversity loss, especially within the past half century (MEA 2005). Indeed, we are in the midst of a sixth mass-extinction event that is at once biological and cultural (Loh & Harmon 2014). This is a concern for all human societies because we cannot exist without the world’s live sustaining capabilities. Humans obtain many benefits from ecosystems, both material and non-material; material benefits in the present work include plant foods, and non-material benefits include a subjective sense of culture and more objective knowledge of natural and social sciences (MEA 2005: 5).

As mentioned above, nature and culture are inextricably linked, both demonstrating different outcomes of interrelated evolutionary processes (Maffi 2005; Loh & Harmon 2014). Therefore, it follows that the massive decline in global biodiversity and changes to global ecosystems has profound effects on the world’s cultural diversity. Additionally, the rapid rate of socio-economic and political transformations greatly affects the traditional environmental knowledge of local and indigenous peoples and the ecosystems on which they directly and indirectly depend (Maffi 2010). However, Maffi argues that ‘detailed case studies at the local level are needed to understand the causal links between the environment and cultural values,’ (2010: 9; emphasis in original). This research project attempts to do just that. It is an exploratory investigation, which endeavours to describe the causal association between environmental change, including ecological and social elements, and the erosion of local environmental knowledge.

1.3. Local Environmental Knowledge

A significant component of this investigation focuses on the transmission and maintenance of local knowledge and its transformation through time. These themes are also fundamental components in the study of local knowledge systems and cultural groups because ‘continuity from one generation to the next is implicit in the concepts of culture and society,’ (Ruddle 1993: 17). Nevertheless, cultural transmission cannot be assumed to be solely the result of collective action, for individuals are the channels through which cultural information is transmitted (Ellen & Fischer 1993). While generalisations can be made about cultural transmission within populations it is necessary to examine individuals ‘loosely imagined as comprising these populations,’ (ibid: 4). The question of intra-cultural variation is always present when considering individuals as conduits of cultural knowledge; variation creates challenges for anthropologists attempting to estimate cultural knowledge systems and accurately record such data in ethnographic reports (Romney et al. 1986). Hence, the ethnobotanical data presented in the latter half of this dissertation will summarise and generalize individual responses in order to provide a more consensual depiction of the LEK of wild plant foods.

Although variation and transmission are fundamental concerns, the first step in investigating and understanding the complex concept of what is variously called LEK, indigenous knowledge (IK), traditional knowledge (TK), or traditional environmental- ecological knowledge (TEK) is acknowledging the difficultly of accurately naming such a heterogeneous concept; most researchers agree that these various designations are unsatisfactory in some way (Nakashima & Roué 2002). This is due to disagreement, confusion, and ambiguity of what many of these designations truly mean: the terms traditional, indigenous, local, and environmental all carry connotations that prevent them from accurately describing all systems of ecological knowledge held by diverse groups of peoples within varied environments and with widely different histories.

In recent decades interest in the documentation of indigenous and local understanding of the biophysical environment has demonstrated the prospect that such knowledge can contribute to sustainable development and conservation science (Pandey 2003). However, the study of knowledge systems within the disciplines of anthropology and ethnoscience has a much longer and prolific history (Berkes 1993). For example, Conklin’s (1955)

5 seminal work on the relation between Hanunóo culture and environment showed how the investigation of indigenous and local knowledge systems aids the understanding of culture and human cognition.

In this paper I will use the term LEK (local environmental knowledge) to discuss the knowledge system of a rural population in the south-western region of Spain. I prefer to use this designation because the terms ‘indigenous’ and ‘traditional’ are inadequate in this context, although they may be appropriate in other situations. The use of the term traditional knowledge may erroneously connote knowledge that is unchanging or situated in the past, disregarding adopted practices and technologies (Berkes 1993). Moreover, the use of the word indigenous may not be the best term to describe local people who have a long history of occupation, but may not clearly be identified as ‘aboriginal’ or ‘indigenous’ (Nakashima & Roué 2002). This ambiguity is clearly the case in modern-day Europe where a myriad of historical trajectories has influenced the current cultural composition and historical contexts (Pardo-de-Santayana et al. 2010).

Berkes, recognizing the ambiguity of the concept and terms, describes TEK or LEK systems as: ‘cumulative [bodies] of knowledge and beliefs, handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment,’ (1993: 3). Generally speaking, these systems of knowledge are holistic and therefore not separated from practical aspects, or ‘know-how,’ and spiritual components; thus, these knowledge systems serve to guide people in their countless interactions with their biophysical environment (Nakashima & Roué 2002). The holistic nature of local and traditional systems of knowledge is contrasted by what might be called the western scientific knowledge system, in the way that spiritual and practical aspects are not necessarily integrated with understanding. Mainly, the difference in the current context is that LEK of wild plant foods is not distinct from the practice of consuming these botanical resources. Therefore, in this paper the use of the term LEK includes the practical activities of plant collection and consumption as well as abstract knowledge about the plant species themselves.

1.4. LEK in Europe

Traditional knowledge systems are most often studied in the context of aboriginal or indigenous cultures (Berkes 1993), but local knowledge systems still exist and are highly valued in contemporary European societies even if they are academically marginalized. An interesting and relevant example of extant LEK systems in Europe is the way in which local and traditional agricultural products are marketed under the label ‘Protected Designation of Origin’ (PDO) if they can be shown to fit certain criteria demonstrating their regional and cultural origins (Bérard & Marchenay 2004). These products are recognized for resulting from different technical practices of production grounded in historical traditions, geographical location, and cultural knowledge systems (Bérard & Marchenay 2006). Many PDO products are acknowledged for the complex production systems, like landscape ecosystems, that support forms of biodiversity while including local breeds and varieties of plants and animals (Bérard & Marchenay 2006). Meat from the regional Iberian Pig is one particular product from Spain that is given this designation (Spanish: Denominación de Origen), because of the traditional production system in which the pigs are raised. This investigation, while not focussed on the products obtained from the Iberian Pig, concerns the wild plant foods that are present in the same system of production called the Dehesa (Chapter 3). Clearly, the LEK of rural European societies is a fertile area of investigation, especially in the case of designated cultural products and production techniques that reflect rich cultural traditions and knowledge systems.

1.5. Wild Plants

Plants are a fundamental component of most human diets around the world, and represent an essential trophic level in ecological food webs. The subject of this research project focuses on the knowledge and use of wild food plants in south-western Spain, so an initial introduction to wild food plants is necessary. The following sections will address the ethnobotanical topic of wild food plants and will refer to concepts in the context of wild plant consumption in the Mediterranean region and Spain in particular.

Investigations about the ingestion and extent of consumption of wild food plants have often been neglected or marginalized because of the confusion surrounding the definition of the term ‘wild’ (Etkin 1994). Generally, the terms ‘wild’, ‘domesticated’ and ‘cultivated’ are thought of as points on a continuum representing the extent of interaction and influence

7 between humans and plants, with domesticated plants being those species that rely on humans for propagation, and possess genetic adaptations caused by human manipulation (Logan & Dixon 1994). These authors define ‘wild’ plants as those whose ‘habitat does not include secondary (disturbed) habitats such as open areas, thickets, roadsides, old fields, edges of fields and so forth,’ (ibid: 31), but stress that plants can move along the continuum depending on their ranges and habitats. In agroecosystems, like the dehesas of Spain, such a definition of wild plants may be somewhat problematic as these landscapes are undoubtedly the result of long-term societal interaction with the regional ecosystem (e.g. Diáz et al. 1997; Bugalho et al. 2011). Many of the plants discussed in this investigation are considered weed species, or plants that predominately grow in human- disturbed habitats displaying traits like ‘high reproductive capacity, rapid growth and ability for adapting to different environmental conditions,’ (Tardío 2010: 216). Thus, the plant species and populations within the anthropogenic dehesa may be better understood as ‘semi-wild’, a term that Etkin and Ross define as ‘plants neither explicitly cultivated nor actively tended but nevertheless affected by human activities,’ (1994:88). Although the extent of historical human activity on the landscape of Valverde de Burguillos is extensive, the term semi-wild will not be used in this paper. Following the authors’ caution, suppositions ‘regarding whether, or to what extent, genetic changes have occurred’ (ibid:88) will be avoided in this discussion. This reflects the aforementioned difficulty of defining plants along the wild-domesticated continuum. Hence, throughout this dissertation plants that are not explicitly cultivated will be considered ‘wild’.

1.6. Plants and LEK

We may be inclined to believe that primarily agricultural societies have little need to consume wild plants for subsistence, and instead rely on the harvesting of domesticated plants for food procurement; however, this view is misleading. The work of Cecil Brown (1985) demonstrated that small-scale and traditional agriculturalists may actually have a much more detailed and extensive knowledge of wild plant species than do hunter-gatherer or forager societies. Within agricultural groups knowledge of edible wild plants is thought to be an essential cultural adaptation during times of food shortages, and consumption of these plants can act as a buffer in between production cycles (Brown 1985; Huss-Ashmore & Johnston 1994). Agricultural activities are also responsible for periodic disturbance of habitats, especially in the case of rotational cultivation. This practice provides

8 opportunities for colonization by different plant species, especially fast-growing, adaptive plants like weeds.

Throughout the Mediterranean region, knowledge of edible wild plants has held an important role in complementing the diets of agricultural societies, and has indeed helped to alleviate hunger during food shortages; in Spain, wild plant foods were extensively exploited during and after the Spanish Civil War of the 1930’s when food shortages were widespread (Tardío 2010). To be sure, historical wild plant consumption in Europe is quite often associated with famine or times of food scarcity; emergency bread additives and wild herbaceous substitutes for cultivated plants were once prominently consumed wild foods across Europe and the Mediterranean during such hardships (Łuczaj et al. 2012).

Wild plants are known to produce high levels of secondary compounds, or allelochemicals, that taste bitter, astringent, or sour; many of these chemicals are important in the health and nutrition of people who consume wild plant foods (Johns 1994). Many traditionally consumed wild vegetables in Spain are known to contain high levels of bioactive compounds; these compounds may contribute to dietary nutrition and serve as important sources of antioxidants, notably organic acids such as ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid (Sanchez-Mata et al. 2012). Dietary sources of antioxidants are an important and beneficial aspect of the typical Mediterranean diet; in Spain, the ingestion of dietary antioxidants is in large part the result of a high intake of minimally processed plants foods (Saura-Calixto & Goñi 2006). In the past, wild plant foods may have performed an important role in providing sources of beneficial dietary antioxidants in Spanish diets. For instance, the wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius, discussed in Chapter 5), a popular wild plant food in the Mediterranean, has been shown to possess greater antioxidant activity than cultivated asparagus due to its greater abundance of phenolic compounds (Ferrara et al. 2011). Another plant described in the present work, Wild Thyme (Thymus mastichina, Chapter 5), has demonstrated similar antioxidant capabilities; methanolic extracts from Spanish populations of the once widely utilized T. mastichina exhibited high amounts of beneficial dietary antioxidants such as the organic acid rosmarinic acid and the flavonol kaempferol (Delgado et al. 2014). Despite the potential health benefits of these wild plant foods, it is not fully understood as to the exact extent wild plants figure in the overall nutrition of modern-day Mediterranean diets. Still, it may be accurately assumed

9 that the nutritional benefits of wild plant foods contributed in part to their integration in Spanish diets and the continuation of their consumption.

The modern decline in knowledge and consumption of wild plant foods in Europe is linked to the abandonment of traditional resource management behaviours, particularly animal husbandry activities (Łuczaj et al. 2012). This statement is particularly relevant to the present study, as the field site of Valverde de Burguillos exemplifies the observed desertion of traditional land-use systems. The history, ecology, and present abandonment of such systems of resource management in southern Spain is an important component of change related to the use and knowledge of wild foods. In the following chapter the traditional resource management and agricultural activities that once shaped the rural landscape of Extremadura, Spain will be discussed to provide a contextual background to the present investigation.

Chapter 2: Social-Ecological Context

This chapter describes the general context of the present study, the purpose being to introduce the reader to the background material that informs the investigation. The substance of this chapter frames the broad environment in which the LEK of wild food plants has developed, and describes the general changes that have led to the contemporary erosion of LEK and traditional land-use systems. This chapter begins with a description of the social-ecological environment and concludes with a discussion of the current trends affecting the continuation and maintenance of the social-ecological system.

2.1. Agroecosystems and the Spanish Dehesa

Agricultural land-use systems incorporating widely spaced trees and arable croplands are integral components of many diverse landscapes throughout Europe; these mixed approaches to land-use are referred to as silvoarable systems, and are typically divided into northern European systems and Mediterranean systems (Eichhorn et al. 2006). A significant and particular class of silvoarable systems in the Mediterranean region are the ‘artificial’ or anthropogenic savannas known as dehesa in Spain and montado in Portugal (Marañón 1988). They are intermittently-wooded pasturelands mainly populated with species of oak trees, and are both a characteristic landscape of the Spanish provinces of Extremadura and Andalucía and a system of resource exploitation (Joffre et al. 1999). Dehesas are also commonly referred to as ‘agro-sylvo-pastoral’ systems (Marañón 1988; Diáz et al. 1997), and exemplify a manner of agricultural exploitation involving trees, cultivated crops and livestock-rearing in a region where ‘shallow, acidic, and nutrient deficient’ soils and ‘seasonal droughts make most of these lands unsuitable for intensive farming,’ (Marañón 1988:). A concise academic definition of the Spanish dehesa is presented by Diáz et al. as:

‘pasturelands populated by holm oak Quercus ilex and, to a lesser extent, cork oak Quercus suber, with an understorey of open grassland, cereal crops or Mediterranean scrub, most commonly with a typical savanna appearance. The most typical dehesas represent a broad transition between the Mediterranean scrub and forest areas with low livestock densities… and the open arable croplands and grasslands (treeless dehesas), created by the complete removal of tree cover.’ (1997:180)

This ‘broad transition’ mentioned above enforces the fact that dehesa landscapes are spatially heterogeneous. Still, one can spatially conceptualize the general structure of the dehesa as consisting of two strata: the tree layer, or ‘canopy’, and the understory vegetation, involving both herbaceous plants and smaller woody shrubs (Joffre et al. 1999). The formation of dehesas in the western Mediterranean is considered to have begun during the Copper Age (± 4500 years ago); archaeological pollen evidence suggests during this time oak and pine forests were replaced with scattered oaks and herbaceous vegetation (Stevenson & Harrison cited in Grove & Rackham 2001; cited in Eichhorn et al. 2006).

Due to the fact that dehesa landscapes are at once biological environments and systems of agricultural exploitation it is useful to consider them as agroecosystems, which ‘are the result of a complex co-evolutionary process between natural and social systems, resulting in strategies for ecosystem appropriation,’ (Altieri 2004, p. 36). This is certainly true for dehesa woodlands, regarded as developing from the interaction between environmental factors, such as climate and geology, and the history and subsistence strategies of human societies in the region (Pineda & Montalvo 1995).

Acknowledgement of the co-evolutionary processes between human society and the biophysical environment supports the widely observed fact that the dehesa owes its physical structure and maintenance, and in some sense its vegetative composition, to human activity (Diáz et al. 1997; Joffre et al. 1999; Grove & Rackham 2001; Bugalho et al. 2011). The human activity that has shaped the dehesa mainly refers to the ancient practice of semi-nomadic grazing of domestic animals—historically the most important economic activity in Extremadura (Linares, 2007:72). Other human activities, such as tree management, rotational ploughing and cereal cropping (Marañón 1988; Pineda & Montalvo 1995), are important aspects of creating spatial habitat heterogeneity; the mosaic landscape of ‘pastures, fallows and crop cultivations’ promotes a high level of biodiversity (Plieninger & Wilbrand 2001:29).

The functionality of the dehesa landscapes appear as extensive oak orchards where domestic herbivores graze on the pasture vegetation, fallen acorns, and tender branches (Joffre et al.1988). Although the dehesa supports largely pastoral activities, the utilization of these systems extends beyond the grazing of animals. Still, the rearing of the regional breeds of Iberian pigs, Retinto cattle and Merino sheep has been a central component of the system; the Iberian pigs being one of the most profitable products obtained from the dehesa

(Marañón 1988; Joffre et al. 1999). Other important products, historically and contemporaneously, include the harvest of cereal grains (cultivated in a rotational manner), sheep, cattle, acorns, and fuelwood (Grove & Rackham 2001). Furthermore, dehesas have long provided for the production and collection of many other secondary products: namely charcoal, stones for construction, and cork (Parsons 1962; Marañón 1988). Game hunting, wild plant collection, apiculture, and olive cultivation, amongst other activities, also take place in the dehesa (Plieninger & Wilbrand 2001). Thus, the multi-functionality of the dehesa is well demonstrated in the myriad subsistence activities and products obtained from the land-use system.

Dehesas are habitats for a variety of animal species, including iconic endangered birds and mammals like the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardina) and the Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti) (Diáz et al. 1997). They are also important wildlife corridors for the movement of animals between habitats and during migrations (Pineda & Montalvo 1995), as well as reserves of plant genetic resources suited to the Mediterranean geoclimate (Marañón 1988). These botanical resources include some wild relatives of crops species (e.g. Allium ampeloprasum; Nasturtium officinale, Chapter 4)—an important aspect of traditional agroecosystems that help to ensure genetic diversity and food security (Altieri 2004). Appropriate human use of dehesa systems is actually required for the maintenance of the recognized biological diversity and ecological benefits (Bugalho et al. 2011). Thus, the continued existence of dehesas and traditional agroecosystems in general is regarded as an important objective for the conservation of biological diversity, cultural patrimony, and agricultural heritage, while remaining essential resources for the development and implementation of sustainable agricultural practices (McNeely 1995; Altieri 2004; Altieri & Koohafkan 2004; Bugalho et al. 2011).

Thus, most researchers agree that dehesa agroecosystems, and their associated agrarian maintenance and traditional knowledge, have helped to sustain a relatively high degree of biological diversity while simultaneously allowing for agricultural exploitation (Marañón 1988; Pineda & Montalvo 1995; Diáz et al. 1997; Joffre et al. 1999; Bugalho et al. 2011). However, contemporary methods of agricultural production have led to an abandonment of traditional agricultural practices across Europe (Eichhorn et al. 2006), which has caused ecological and cultural transformations.

2.2. Agrarian Transition

In the last century the agricultural sector of Europe and the United States has experienced a radical transformation, mainly through the widespread implementation of industrial and scientific methods of cultivation, and the application of mechanised equipment (Boserup 1965). This particular transformation is commonly known as the ‘green revolution’, which itself is part of a larger transition: the socio-political and economic transition to capitalism.

The agrarian transition, namely the process ‘whereby capitalism became the dominant mode of production in agriculture,’ (Byres 1982:82) is a topic of great importance in the history of developed capitalist economies as well as those parts of the world where this transition is currently taking place. To fully comprehend the current realities of agricultural production in more advanced capitalist economies, it is essential to have an understanding of the history of this transition and the effects it has had on traditional, or pre-capitalist, modes of agricultural production. Identifying the effects of this transition is highly idiosyncratic, as Byres states, the ‘development of capitalist agriculture…was a long- drawn-out process, sometimes stretching over centuries, which has taken a variety of historical forms,’ (1982:83).

The rural history of Southern Spain during the 19th and 20th centuries was especially idiosyncratic, tumultuous and complex. Class conflict, issues of land tenure, the changing of political regimes, the activity of revolutionary anarchist syndicates, and ultimately a bloody civil war leading to the Franco dictatorship, all played major roles in agrarian reform and the transition to capitalism in the past two centuries (Malefakis 1970). Agriculture in Spain was the primary economic activity well into the 20th century, even at the beginning of the 1970’s the agricultural sector in Spain virtually equalled, in economic importance, ‘all forms of private industrial activity combined,’ (ibid: 54). Furthermore, in 1960 ‘41.3 percent of the active population,’ relied on agriculture for livelihood security (ibid). Thus, the socio-economic consequences of the agrarian transition were great and affected a large segment of the population. Space does not allow for a discussion of all these important elements; instead, focus will be given to the effects of the agrarian transition upon the traditional agricultural activities of the dehesa which has contributed to the erosion of LEK.

2.2.1. Agrarian Transition and the Dehesa

The effects of agricultural modernization beginning in the mid-1950’s has had several important effects on the traditional use and management of dehesa agroecosystems. This change is what Bernstein calls the shift from farming to agriculture, which is characterized by a few key aspects:

‘the industrial basis of technical change; the formation of global markets and divisions of labour in agriculture, and especially staple foods; and, the constitution of the ‘agricultural sector’ as an object of policy,’ (2010: 62)

Technical change in the dehesa is exemplified by the adoption of mechanized equipment which replaces human and animal labour. Farm mechanization in the form of ploughing equipment also has negative effects on the health and regeneration of trees in the dehesa (Bugalho et al. 2009). Agricultural policies and global markets are further cited as being detrimental to the dehesa, mostly in terms of subsidies and market demand for the production of beef. For example, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU) has in the recent past incentivised the production of cattle over sheep, pigs, and goats; although this subsidy regime has since changed, cattle is still grazed in greater abundance because of the huge global demand for beef and the lower management requirements of the animals (Bugalho et al. 2009: 37). The increasing number of cattle is detrimental on the ability for the oak trees of the dehesa to regenerate (ibid) and creates a system of polarized land use where other traditional activities, such as rotational cereal cropping, no longer takes place. Other threats to the dehesa include the abandonment of woodlands leading to the invasion of woody shrubs, creating habitat homogeneity and increasing the potential of wildfires. Mismanagement, overuse, rural abandonment and diminished financial support all threaten the ‘sustainability of a cultural landscape system of recognized patrimonial value,’ (Bugalho et al. 2009: 45).

The agrarian transition and the adoption of industrial agricultural production are appropriately examined through the framework of political economy, as it elicits numerous social and economic transformations (Byres 1982). However, this shift has similarly transformative effects on biological ecosystems. The incentivised intensification of agricultural production following World-War II in Europe and the United States has

15 additionally led to a widespread decline in farmland biodiversity; this is mostly due to the homogenised environments that intensive agriculture creates (Benton et al. 2003). The biodiversity found within traditional farming systems that promote heterogeneity, such as the dehesa, is being replaced through this industrialisation, leading to landscapes of extensive monocultural production systems (Machovina et al. 2015). Hence, the two-fold effects of the agrarian transition on both political economies and biological diversity demonstrates the biocultural dynamics operating at different levels. Changes in agricultural production reduces the traditional farming practices that once promoted cultural diversity in the form of LEK of wild food plants. It can be seen that this important driver of LEK erosion, industrial agricultural practices, is also a key cause of biodiversity loss.

These aforementioned factors and aspects of agrarian change, such as the adoption of mechanical equipment and the formation of global markets, are important elements in the changes related to LEK of wild edible plants. These elements have complex effects on both human society, cultural practices, and biological ecosystems, and will be further discussed in Chapter 5.

Chapter 3: Research Project

The fieldwork period and field site are presented in this chapter. First, the field site location will be introduced, including geographical information, and data about the local population and regional ecology. The fieldwork methodology, criteria, and project limitations are then discussed in the second section.

3.1. Field Site: Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, Spain

Valverde de Burguillos (hereafter also referred to simply as Valverde) is a small rural municipality located in the southern province of Badajoz in the Spanish autonomous community of Extremadura (Figure 1).

The town is situated at an altitude of 409 m above sea level and its limits extend 19.5 km2 (Diputación de Badajoz 2014). Its coordinates are: Latitude: 38º 19’ 41,’’ Longitude: 6º 32’ 15’’ (Gallardo Álvarez 2014). Castilian Spanish is the language spoken by the population.

Figure 1. Left: Map showing the southwestern Mediterranean region. Spain’s 17 autonomous communities are outlined, with the community of Extremadura indicated. Source: modified from commons.wikimedia.org. Right: The autonomous community of Extremadura. Approximate location of Valverde de Burguillos is indicated. Source: modified from d-maps.com.

3.1.1. History

The name Valverde literally means ‘green valley,’ while de Burguillos signifies the village’s close association with the neighbouring town of Burguillos del Cerro. This name,

Valverde de Burguillos, was officially incorporated in 1916 (Gallardo Álvarez 2014), but human occupation of the village and its surroundings is certainly much older. Remains from human settlements in the region of Valverde date back to the late Neolithic and early Bronze age, about 3,000 BCE (Gallardo Álvarez 2014). It is around this time that researchers speculate the formation of dehesa land-use systems began.

3.1.2. Population

The current population is around 319 residents (CEDER Zafra Río Bodión 2010), and has been in a continual decline since the mid twentieth century. In 1950 the population of Valverde was around 1,211 people (Gallardo Álvarez 2014).

The steep decline in the village population within the past 60-70 years is simultaneously a factor contributing to, and a symptom of, the trends affecting the maintenance of LEK involving edible wild plants (Chapter 5).

Figure 2. The village of Valverde de Burguillos, situated in the undulating foothills of the Sierra Morena mountains. The landscape is characterised by dehesa and cultivated olive groves. A large Eucalytus plantation is sited on the hilltop seen on the right.

3.1.3. Local Environment

The region that includes Valverde de Burguillos is known as Zafra-Río Bodión and represents an ecological and geologic transition between the south-western Sierra Morena and the plains of the Tierra de Barros (Vázquez García 2001). The dominant landscape in

18 the southern part of the region, where Valverde is located, is undulating and largely covered by dehesa—the principal use of the soil being extensive ranching (ADENEX 2001). In this zone the landscape is mountainous and marked with various river valleys, the soil is poor, and dehesa woodlands predominate. It is precisely the poor quality of the soil in the region that has preserved the extensive dehesa woodlands; the area is simply not suited to more profitable and intensive cultivation (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Botanically speaking, the pasturelands of the dehesa basically involve herbaceous annuals, biennials, or perennials: principally species belonging to the botanical families Poaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Caryophyllaceae, and Brassicaceae (Devesa Alcaraz 1995: 100). The woody species most abundant in the dehesa of Valverde are the Holm oak (Quercus ilex) and wild and cultivated olives (Olea europea). Prominent shrubs include the increasingly prevalent retama (Retama sphaerocarpa) and cornicabra (Pistacia spp.).

Although dominated by dehesa, the landscape surrounding Valverde is heterogeneous, involving arable fields, orchards, and vegetable gardens, mostly concentrated around the village proper. One hilltop in the village contains a large plantation of Eucalyptus sp. trees planted for timber production (Figure 2).

The general geologic composition of the area is:

‘based in the primitive Cambrian peneplain (slate and quartzite) with outcroppings of igneous rocks (mainly granite) covered over following the Tertiary and Quaternary periods (Miocenic clays). In higher zones reliefs of quartzite and limestone predominate,’ (translated from ADENEX 2001: 64).

The Río Bodión river, a tributary of the larger Río Ardila, and its smaller seasonal streams delimit the territory belonging to Valverde de Burguillos. It is the Río Bodión river valley from which Valverde takes its name. The Río Bodión creates Valverde’s southern border with the municipality of Valencia de Ventoso. The region where the Río Bodión flows into the Río Ardila is known as Las Juntas (meaning junction or connection), and is also where the limits of Valverde meet those of neighboring Valencia de Ventoso, Burguillos del Cerro and Fregenal de la Sierra. Both the rivers originate outside the Zafra-Río Bodión region, with the Río Ardila only running along the region’s southern border. Prominent woody riparian species of the river valley include Nerium oleander (Adelfa), Fluegga tinctoria, and Tamarix gallica. Cattails (Typha spp.), reeds (Arundo sp.), rushes (Juncus

19 spp.), and brambles (Rubus ulmifolius) are other plants likely to be encountered in the region’s riparian zones (ADENEX 2001).

3.1.4. Climate

The climate of the zone can be characterized as Subtropical Mediterranean, with cool winters and hot, dry summers. Valverde receives an annual rainfall of around 700 mm during 75-100 days of rainfall; and more than a third of the annual precipitation occurs during the winter months (December and January), with the least amount of rainfall in July and August (ADENEX 2001).

3.1.5. Comments

The ecological conditions of the field site reinforce the observation that dehesa land-use systems are ecologically adapted to the limiting climatic and geological conditions of the regions where they predominate. The characteristics of the regional ecology are also important to understand the environment in which wild plant collection takes place. Interestingly, this region of Spain is said to promote the most abundant populations of wild asparagus (Acosta Naranjo, pers. comm. 2015). Consequently, the frontiers of Valverde are a hotbed for plant collectors and hobbyists alike.

3.2. Fieldwork

The fieldwork and collection of data for this project took place during a six week period between April 29, 2015 through June 8, 2015. Data analysis, synthesis, and background literature review was carried out during the months preceding and following the fieldwork period. A timetable of the research schedule is provided (Table 1).

Table 1. Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Lit. review x x x x x x x Field work x x x Analysis x x x x Writing x x x Submission x

3.2.1. Methods

The investigation employed standard anthropological methodology, relying heavily on the practices of participant observation and the use of interviews. Participants were chosen in a “snowball” fashion. All communication (including interviews) between participants and myself was carried out in Castilian Spanish. The majority of data were collected through interviews and observation, but anthropological and historical documents, folk songs, and film resources were also utilized. Interview recordings, field notes and other materials were transcribed, coded and analysed using NVivo 10 software.

The investigation followed two phases of data collection. The first phase employed general open-ended interviews and participant observation involving people of all ages, life histories, occupations, and genders. During this initial phase information regarding the domains of rural livelihoods, edible plant knowledge, and social change were discussed and recorded in written field notes.

The main source of data resulted from 10 semi-structured interviews that were recorded and analysed during the second phase of fieldwork. During this period the range of interviewees was more selective, involving only people who had experience doing agricultural labour and those who had spent all or portions of their lives living in farmhouses in areas away from the centres of cities or towns (i.e. en el campo; in the countryside). Three women and seven men were interviewed and recorded using a handheld audio recorder. Interview participants ranged in age from the mid-20’s to around 80 years.

3.2.2. Criteria for Interview Participants

The selection criteria for the 10 recorded semi-structured interviews were constructed on five measures; participants had to fulfil one or more of the following: Niñez en el campo: spent all or some of their childhood living in remote areas in the countryside Ganadero: works or worked as a rancher (including cattle, sheep, pigs, goats) Hortelano: cultivator in a village garden Colector: generates income by the collection and sale of wild plants Jornalero: works or has worked as a hired agricultural labourer

The composition of the interview participants are presented in the table below (Table 2).

Table 2. Sex Age Group Niñez Ganadero Hortelano Colector Jornaler o M 50-59 X X F 60-69 X M 70-79 X X M 70-79 X X F 70-79 X M 30-35 X X M 70-79 X X X X F 80-89 X M 20-29 X M 70-79 X X X

3.2.3. Limitations

As with all anthropological research, the ever-present problems of personal bias determined by culture, life experience, socio-economic class, ideology, age, gender, etc. are to some extent unavoidable (Alexiades 1996). This is due to the fact that as human beings we are incapable of complete objectivity, especially in the case of recording ‘culturally based information,’ (ibid: 55). However, care was taken to minimize my own personal bias by following the guidelines provided by Alexiades (1996) and Martin (2004).

Time was a limiting factor during this investigation. The fieldwork period lasted only six weeks. This was a consequence of the nature of the research project; namely, the fact that this investigation was a requirement for qualification for the MSc degree in Ethnobotany, and only a brief amount of time was realistically feasible due to the short timeframe of the MSc course.

Another potential limitation of the project is my ability to converse in, and completely understand, Castilian Spanish. Although my language abilities are strong, there were limitations on my ability to converse with the local population, and it is possible that the responses of people I interviewed were influenced by the fact that I am not a native speaker. It is possible that research participants changed the nature and/or vocabulary of their responses so that I could better understand what was being said. Also, my Spanish- language skills may possibly have biased my questions, as I sometimes had to ask leading questions. To avoid skewing the data, analysis was minimized or altogether avoided where the possibility of leading questions occurs in the interview transcripts.

The bias in gender representation in the recorded interviews is the result of the sexual division of labour; that is, those with the most direct experience in agricultural work tend to be men. This influenced the composition of interview participants, with 7 out of 10 being male. Additionally, the recorded interviews mainly involved an older age group; this is a product of the diminishing direct experience and eroded ecological knowledge of the younger generation. These two biases are only relevant for the 10 recorded interviews; the initial open-ended interviews involved people of all ages and sexes, and this information was recorded in written field notes and contributes to the overall analysis.

Chapter 4: Dynamics of Edible Wild Plant Knowledge

‘Las nuevas tecnologías nos están changando a los jóvenes. Antes, jugaba todo el mundo en las calles. Y ahora, pues, los jóvenes se dedican a jugar con el ordenador, con un video consola y no en el campo. Sin embargo, yo antes cuando era chiquito, estaba todo día en el campo. Con mi padre, con mis amigos, con todo el mundo. Y uno te va enseñado una cosa, otra persona te enseña otra, y cuando llega los años, pues, vas aprendiendo mucho.’

‘New technologies are ruining us young people. In the past, everyone would play in the streets. And now, well, young people spend their time playing on the computer, with video games and not in the countryside. However when I was a kid, I was in the countryside every day. With my father, my friends, with everyone. Someone will teach you something, another person will teach you something else, and after some years pass, well, you’ll learn a great deal.’

This chapter explores the knowledge of select wild plant food species in Valverde de Burguillos. The plant species presented here help to reveal the dynamics associated with wild plant consumption at the present time, but by no means represent the depth of knowledge or range of wild species historically utilized as food in Spain. Indeed, the knowledge of wild plant foods is quickly disappearing, today mainly surviving with the elderly; still, the knowledge of the older generation is only a reminder of the extent of wild plant consumption of the past (Tardío 2010).

The level of knowledge and use of wild plants amongst residents of Valverde de Burguillos is dependent on an individual’s life history, age group, gender, livelihood activity and personal disposition. This follows Berlin’s observation that ‘cultural knowledge is distributed throughout a population in ways related to…a person’s sex and age, social status and role, kinship affiliation, personal experience, and basic intelligence,’ amongst other factors (1992: 199). In Valverde, those who are more knowledgeable about wild food plants, and those who have more experience eating them, largely tend to be of a much older demographic, and most likely have lived and worked in the countryside. Men and women whose livelihoods depend, or once depended, on agricultural labour appear more knowledgeable about plant identification and ecology, and seem to have a more detailed knowledge of the preparation of foods using wild plants. In the past, women, men, and children spent a great deal of time in the countryside doing daily chores and labours. More often, women performed the collection and preparation of wild foods in and around the home, and men used a variety of wild foods while tending livestock and working in the fields (Tardío 2010). These past experiences live on in the memories of the elderly,

24 however LEK is not a static nor universal entity; individual knowledge is subject to change and there is great variation between any two persons.

Predictably, younger people nowadays have much less breadth of knowledge and experience surrounding wild plant consumption. However, in the past children are known to have a unique knowledge of wild plant foods, many edible plant species are known as children’s foods: mostly plants that are eaten raw as snacks (Acosta Naranjo, pers. comm. 2015; Tardío 2010). Presently, amongst the youth it is mainly people who have an affinity for the outdoors or take part in wild plant collection who have some level of knowledge about wild plants; but expectedly, this knowledge reflects changing attitudes and times, and is thus different in content and context than the knowledge of the older generation.

A database of edible wild plants traditionally consumed in Spain, compiled by Tardío and co-workers (2006), classifies seven non-mutually exclusive categories of wild plant use: vegetables, fruits, beverages, seasoning, preservatives, sweets, and other uses (Tardío 2010). Furthermore, these plants can be divided in three categories of consumption: stewed, raw in salads, and raw as snacks (ibid). Plants that are eaten raw as snacks are not usually collected for storage or consumption in the home; they are normally only eaten in small amounts during outings into the countryside. Conversely, plants eaten stewed or in salads are collected for and incorporated into prepared meals: typically gazpachos, garbanzos, guisos (stews), and tortillas (Spanish omelettes) and vegetable salads. For this investigation plants that are incorporated into meals are considered as potherbs, defined as ‘any herb prepared as food by cooking in a pot, as spinach, or added as seasoning in cookery, as thyme,’ (Dictionary.com 2015). Plants that can be defined as potherbs appear to be exemplary of what is currently considered an edible wild plant (planta comestible) in Valverde de Burguillos. Raw snack plants are a more ambiguous category, and while they can be eaten they may not be explicitly regarded as edible or used in food preparation in the way a potherb would be. This distinction is supported by observation, personal communication with researchers (Acosta Naranjo, pers. comm. 2015), and the statements provided by participants in interviews. For example, comments regarding fruits of certain species of Malvaceae illustrates this peculiarity (Figure 3).

The distinction provided in the example also raises the question of categories of edible plants as it relates to temporal scales and age groups. As adults, plants such as the Malvaceae species may not be considered edible, but are perhaps considered such from the

25 point of view of young children. Children are known to experiment and taste many wild plants, so it can be expected that children’s ethnobotanical knowledge is different than that of adults (Łuczaj et al. 2012).

I: ¿La malva es comestible? I: Is the Malva edible? B: Sí. Se las come el ganado. B: Yes, its eaten by cattle. Las personas, no. Para el ganado. People don’t eat it. It’s for the Son para el ganado. cattle. A: ¿Pero sabes tú cuando éramos A: But did you know when we muchachos que nos comíamos los were young we ate the little botoncillos? Esos nos comíamos buttons [fruits]? We ate them nosotros y no pasa nada. and it was fine. I: ¿Pero quién se come? I: But who eats it? B: No, eso no se come. Esto no es B: No, it is not eaten. It’s not comestible. edible. A: Aquí no se los come esos. A: People don’t eat that here. B: Eso no es comestible. B: It’s not edible. A: Pero que los muchachos nos los A: But as youngsters we ate it. comíamos. B: But that isn’t to say that it’s B: Pero eso no es decir que se come. eaten. A: No A: No B: Eso no es comestible. B: It is not edible

Figure 3. I = Interviewer A = F, 70-79 B = M, 70-79

Due to the changing demographics of the village, and the fact that the present generation of children spend far less time in the countryside, categories of children’s edible plants remains unknown in Valverde de Burguillos. Nevertheless, the above example suggests a temporal and demographic dimension to the knowledge of edible plants. It also alludes to ongoing process of erosion to the current knowledge involving the variety of edible plants once known to rural populations. Edible plant knowledge and use is by no means static (Łuczaj et al. 2012), and categories of what is considered edible may change over the course of one’s lifetime. The changing nature of this knowledge is evident in people’s direct experience consuming wild plant ingredients: most of the plants mentioned are no longer consumed, or consumed only on rare occasions (Tardío 2010). Children and adults alike spend less time in the fields and the countryside causing edible plant knowledge to vanish and categories like children’s plant foods to gradually disappear (Łuczaj et al. 2012).

In the following chapter the most commonly consumed wild plant foods in Valverde de Burguillos will be introduced; each profile includes a discussion of the dynamics of local knowledge relating to the specific plant.

Chapter 5: Profiles of Select Wild Plant-Food Species

This chapter includes a selection of edible wild plants identified and discussed by the residents of Valverde de Burguillos. While most the plants discussed here are considered potherbs, that does not mean that some species do not overlap with other categories of use. Plants like Foeniculum vulgare and the fruits of Quercus ilex can be considered both potherbs and raw snack foods. The selection of plants presented here also includes wild plants eaten as vegetables, aromatic herbs, and other plant ingredients prepared in food or brought into homes for consumption, preparation, and storage. This selection is by no means meant to represent the extent of wild plant foods used in historical times. Instead, it is intended to represent an assortment of edible plants that are either known to village residents, have been used in recent times, or are extensively encountered in the frontiers of the municipality. The plant profiles include the prominent local names, scientific binomials, and plant families. The assignment of scientific binomials and plant families follow the conventions of The Plant List (2013), and the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group Version 13 (2013). Brief botanical descriptions are included with notes on habitat and distribution. Most importantly, comments on the ethnobotanical dynamics reveal the knowledge, customs, and transformations related to each species.

Family Scientific binomial Local name Amaryllidaceae Allium ampeloprasum L. Ajo Porro Apiaceae Foeniculum vulgare Mill. Hinojo; Acinojo Asparagaceae Asparagus alba L. Espárrago blanco A. acutifolius L. Espárrago triguero Asteraceae Scolymus hispanicus L. Tagarnilla; Tagarnina Brassicaceae Nasturtium officinale W.T. Aiton Berro Caryophyllaceae Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke Conejera Fagaceae Quercus ilex L. Bellotas de Encina Lamiaceae Thymus mastichina (L.)L. Tomillo salsero Polygonaceae Rumex pulcher L. Romaza

Table 3. Selected taxa included in plant profiles

Ajo Porro Allium ampeloprasum L. Amaryllidaceae

‘No es muy normal que se come ajo porro, pero vamos, tiene prácticamente el mismo sabor que el ajo cultivado.’

‘It’s not very normal that Ajo Porro is eaten, but still, it has practically the same flavour as that of cultivated garlic.’

Description: Ajo Porro, A. ampeloprasum, or Wild Leek in English (Harrison et al. 1969), is an herbaceous perennial plant that flowers between May and April (Burnie 1995). The sheathing leaves are alternately arranged, lanceolate and with minutely-serrated margins; the inflorescence sheds a papery spathe to reveal a dense, purplish-coloured umbel with up to 500 flowers (ibid). It is referred to as a type of wild garlic in Spanish, and although it is placed within the same genus and phenotypically similar to A. sativum (garlic) it is actually the same species as cultivated leeks (The Plant List 2013), and thought to be the leek’s wild ancestor (Burnie 1995). The bulb is not divided into cloves like that of cultivated garlic plants, but it has small bulbils attached to the main bulb and roots. Distribution: This plant and many other wild alliums are native to, and abundant in the Mediterranean region (Harrison et al. 1969). Habitat: In Extremadura, Ajo Porro is a common plant encountered along roadsides, ditches, borders of gardens and along stone walls (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Ethnobotany: The bulb of this species is known to be eaten in increasingly rare circumstances, and is said to have a flavour similar to cultivated garlic, although consistently stated as being much stronger tasting. It’s culinary use is also similar to that of cultivated garlic; those with some previous experience of eating Ajo Porro mention its use in gazpachos and stews made from garbanzos and fava beans. Interestingly, one interview participant recalled using Ajo Porro in the countryside to make gazpacho during mid-day breaks from agricultural labour. Cultivated garlic from village gardens was used more frequently in the past and presently than the bulbs from the Ajo Porro. Most likely this plant was used as a garlic substitute when cultivated supplies were not available. Very recently some wild plant collectors have started foraging and selling the cleaned bulbs; they can earn about €1.70 per kilo. The present marketing of this rarely used plant may be a result of emerging artisanal trends in

28 local European food markets that place high value on wild and foraged foods (e.g. Łuczaj et al. 2012).

Figure 4. Left: leaves and withered inflorescences of Rumex scutatus; Right: bulb of Allium ampeloprasum.

Bellotas Quercus ilex L. Fagaceae

‘Yo cuando voy al campo en invierno y veo bellotas y las bellotas son gorditas, siempre me meten unas en la boca a ver si son dulces. Porque hay algunas que son amargas, y otras que son dulces. Y las dulces están muy buenas.’

‘When I go into the countryside in the winter and see the ripe acorns, I will always put a few in my mouth and see if they’re sweet. Because there are some that are bitter, and others that are sweet. And the sweet ones are delicious.’

Description: Bellotas are the acorns of the dominant tree species in the dehesa of Valverde de Burguillos: the Encina or Holm oak. Encinas are large evergreen trees with sclerophyllous, alternate leaves; the leaf shape is oblong to lanceolate, and the leaf margins are dentate, undulating, or simple (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). The abaxial leaf surface is whitish and tomentose (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Tree height and shape is highly variable due to the centuries-long tradition of selective pruning and grazing by livestock. Trees are monoecious with unisexual flowers budding between April-May; male flowers are borne on catkins, female flowers are highly reduced with 3-6 styles (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). The mature fruit is a true nut called an acorn. Acorns are ripe and fall in the winter

29 months (November-January) when they are highly valued for feeding livestock, especially the regional breed of Iberian pigs. The high-quality wood has been used for centuries for construction, fuelwood, and charcoal. Distribution: Throughout the western Mediterranean (Grove & Rackham 2001). Habitat: Mediterranean shrubland (maquis); rocky, dry, exposed soils (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). Ethnobotany: The variation in the edibility of acorns is well-known amongst residents of different ages. Normally oak trees produce acorns that have a bitter flavour, while others produce the desired sweet-tasting acorns. Individual trees that produce the preferred acorns are known as avellaneras, and knowledge of where these trees are located is discerned through experimentation and memory. The sweeter-tasting acorns are consistently referred to as being analogous in taste to chestnuts (castañas; Castanea sativa) and are eaten in a similar fashion. Acorns are consumed raw during outings into the countryside, but are also collected and brought into homes for roasting. Small incisions are made in the hard outer wall of the nut (pericarp) so that they do not explode during roasting in wood stoves. Acorns were consumed more in the past, and families would typically conserve and dry collected acorns in the upper levels of houses. They were dried and preserved for feeding livestock, but also eaten as a dried fruit. A flour made from acorns was a substitute for making bread during times of wheat scarcity (Łuczaj et al. 2012); although some people remember this practice, in Valverde acorns are no longer used for this purpose.

Berros Nasturtium officinale W.T. Aiton Brassicaceae

‘Hay algunas personas que les gusta mucha en ensalada. Y hace poco, en unas de las comidas que hacemos con nuestro bandilla, pues, [mi amigo] trajo berros e hizo ensalada y comimos.’

‘There are some people who really like to eat watercress in salads. Not too long ago, when our group was making food together, well, one friend brought some watercress and made salad and we all ate it.’

Description: Berro, known as Watercress in English, is an aquatic perennial species. The glabrous stem is decumbent towards the base, producing adventitious roots at the nodes (Rich 1991). It

30 has pinnately compound leaves with orbicular apical lobes and 1-5 pairs of smaller oblong, sessile lateral lobes; inflorescence crowded, fruit a silique (ibid). Watercress has been collected and consumed from the wild for centuries, but serious attempts at cultivation of this plant didn’t begin until the early 19th century (Harrison et al. 1969). Distribution: Eurasia, North and East Africa; introduced in the Americas, South Africa, Australia (Rich 1991). Habitat: Berros grow where there is fresh running water, normally small streams and rivers where the water is constantly running. Ethnobotany: Wild watercress is still eaten on rare occasions because many people enjoy the mildly pungent, radish-like taste of this cruciferous herb. It is commonly mentioned as being prepared in salads; often flash-fried with olive oil, salt and vinegar. It is also known to be put in soups, added to tortillas, or as an accompaniment to other cooked meals. People mention that there are now some risks associated with collecting and eating wild watercress, mostly related to the contamination of rivers and riparian plants. Excrement from cattle, now grazed in larger concentrations, can pollute the streams running through pastures. Agricultural herbicides and pesticides are also cited as a problem contributing to contamination issues. Berro is said to nearly always co-occur with a phenotypically similar plant, Apium nodiflorum (Spanish: Berraza; Apiaceae); some participants claim this plant is edible while others do not.

Figure 5. Left to right: Quercus ilex Acorns (Bellotas, without cupules) with €1 coin for comparison; Flowering Nasturtium officinale (Berro) co-occuring with Apium nodiflorum (Spanish: Berraza).

Conejera Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke Caryophyllaceae

‘Igual que la espinaca, la acelga, que echa a la tortilla. Pues, igual la Conejera, igual. Se cuecen un poquito, y luego se fríe, y se hace tortilla.’

‘It’s the same as spinach or Swiss chard that you would add to the tortilla. Well, the Conjera is the exactly the same. It’s cooked a little, then fried, and then you make the tortilla.’

Description: Conejera, or Bladder Campion in English, is a morphologically variable, herbaceous perennial that flowers between March and July (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). Its linear- lanceolate leaves are oppositely arranged and sessile (ibid); the inflorescence is a compound cyme. The swollen calyces are persistent, enveloping the mature fruits (capsules) (Burnie 1995). Distribution: Throughout the Mediterranean (ibid), Europe and Asia (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). Habitat: This plant, much like the Acerone, is commonly encountered growing in old stone walls. Also found in cultivated areas, fallow fields, roadsides, and dry soils (Burnie 1995). Comments: Conejera is used much in the same way as spinach and chard, and commonly cited as being a potherb that is cooked into tortilla. It is a slim, delicate vegetable and both the stems and leaves are used in cooking. The local name Conejera may not be universal, even within the region of Badajoz. Tardío (2010) assigns the local name colleja to this species, and claims it is one of the more salient wild plant foods in all of Spain.

Espárrago blanco Asparagus alba L. Espárrago triguero A. acutifolius L. Asparagaceae

‘Está el espárrago blanco que puede empezar desde octubre hasta mayo según la atmosfera; si llueve mucho se pueden llegar hasta coger en mayo. Después, está el espárrago triguero que es negro, los hay en medio negro, y los hay un poquito más claro. Que esos se cogen desde febrero hasta mayo. O así aproximadamente, según el tiempo.’

‘There’s the White Asparagus that one can begin collecting from October until May, depending on the climate; if there’s a great deal of rain you can continue collecting through May. Then there’s the Asparagus of the Wheatfield which is black, there are medium black ones and those a bit lighter. These can be collected from February until May. Approximately that is, depending on the season.’

Description: Wild asparagus plants are tough, woody, rhizomatous perennials often with a feathery or fern-like appearance; A. acutifolius is dioecious like most asparagus species, however A. alba is a monoecious species (Burnie 1995; Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). Asparagus’ needle-like clusters of “leaves” are actually modified stems called cladodes, while the plants’ thorns are actually modified leaves (Burnie 1995). The small, yellow flowers of both species are borne in the axils in groups or solitarily; the fruits are small red berries, turning black when mature (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Wild asparaguses can be easily differentiated from the cultivated A. officinalis by their armed and woody stems (Devesa Alcaraz 1995; Burnie 1995). Distribution: Throughout the Mediterranean (Burnie 1995). Habitat: Sclerophyllous scrublands (dehesa); alkaline soils (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Ethnobotany: Wild asparagus plants, notably abundant in the region of Valverde de Burguillos, are undoubtedly the most valued and sought-after wild harvested plant at the present time, and the only wild vegetable that is eaten with any consistency. Their culinary use is well- known and widespread, both currently and in the past. Asparagus spears are cooked in a variety of dishes including tortillas, soups, salads, stir-fries, and scrambled eggs (huevos revueltos). Asparagus spears are extensively collected and sold both locally and regionally. Many young people dedicate themselves exclusively to the collection and sale of wild asparagus spears. The global financial crisis of 2008 caused rates of youth unemployment to reach record numbers in Spain (BBC 2012). People in Valverde believe this may have had the effect of increasing the number of young people foraging and selling wild asparagus spears. The bunches are normally sold to restaurants, bars, and stores for resale, but personal arrangements are also made for direct sale to individual consumers. Those who are fortunate to live in areas with abundant asparagus populations, like Valverde, more often individually collect bunches of asparagus for personal use in the home. Raffles, held

33 during spring festivals, are a long-standing regional activity where people bid on large bunches of wild asparagus spears. The profusion of asparagus in the region attracts collectors, hobbyists and families from the autonomous communities of Extremadura, Andalucía, Madrid, and elsewhere who come to gather, consume and/or sell asparagus spears during the spring. During the harvest season many outsiders can be seen parked on the sides of the roads and searching the fields for asparagus plants. Families and hobbyists mainly collect for personal consumption or for a leisurely weekend activity. Those who come to collect for resale can make more money by selling the asparagus in regions where there is less access to the countryside.

Figure 6. Left to Right: Silene vulgaris; and Asparagus acutifolius foliage and shoot.

Hinojo, Acinojo Foeniculum vulgare Mill. Apiaceae

‘Eso se chupa, eso no se traga. Eso mastica, mastica la rama esa que tiene el tronco. La masticas y está muy bueno, sabe cómo aguardiente o algo así. Sabe de eso. Y luego eso se utiliza también cuando ya está seco para aliñar las aceitunas de verano.’

‘It’s sucked, not swallowed. It’s chewed, you chew the twigs. You chew it and it’s very good, it tastes like [Anise-flavoured liqueur] or something like that. That’s what it tastes like. And later when it’s dry, it’s used to condiment the summer olives.’

Description: Hinojo, Acinojo, or Bitter Fennel in English (Schönfelder & Schönfelder 1986), is an herbaceous biennial or perennial species that forms larges tufts with tough, shiny stems that hollow with age (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). The leaves are pinnately compound

34 with sheathing bases, and the leaf lobes are feathery and thread-like (ibid). Small yellow flowers are borne in bractless umbels with 4-10 rays between July and September (Schönfelder & Schönfelder 1986). Distribution: Throughout the Mediterranean region, S.W. Asia, and Canary Islands (Schönfelder & Schönfelder 1986). Habitat: Hinojo is a common plant found along roadsides and other disturbed areas such as barren and fallow fields (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Ethnobotany: It is an aromatic plant that is much appreciated for its fragrance and flavour, which is very similar to that of aniseed. Hinojo was formally, and still commonly, used to condiment olives. The dried stalks (palos de acinojo) are associated specifically with the preparation of summer olives (aceitunas de verano); a manner of preparation that is distinct from that of crushed olives (aceitunas machadas), the other common method of preparation. A brine (salmuera) for the olives is made with salt, cloves of garlic, and other condiments (laurel leaves, lemon, etc.). The dried stalks are added to the brine to impart aroma and flavour. The fresh, green stalks of Hinojo are also chewed and held in the mouth for their flavour, a behaviour that is associated with working and venturing in the countryside.

Figure 7. Left: Foeniculum vulgare; Right: Asparagus alba growing on stone wall

Romaza Rumex pulcher L. Polygonaceae

‘En Semana Santa se hacen los guisos con Romaza. Pero, es una cosa se queda como tradición, no por necesidad.’

‘During Holy Week the stews are made with Romaza. But, it’s something that has persisted as a tradition, not because of necessity.’

Description: Romaza, known as Fiddle Dock in English, is an herbaceous perennial (PFAF n.d.). Its ovoid-oblong leaves form a basal rosette, and the leaf margins are simple and cordate to rounded at the base with large petioles (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Flowers are bisexual or unisexual and borne on loose panicles (ibid). Distribution: Western Europe, introduced in North America (PFAF n.d.; USDA n.d.) Habitat: Disturbed areas, pastures, fields and around cultivated areas (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Ethnobotany: The Romaza is a widely-known potherb used during the spring season when its leaves are full and green, but it is increasingly eaten by fewer people. The leaves of this plant are cleaned with water and used in cuisine in the same manner as spinach: they are added to garbanzo and fava bean stews, and vegetable stir-fries. The leaves are alleged to have an slightly unpleasant, acidic flavour when eaten raw or unaccompanied; typically collected leaves are added to complement other foods. The consumption of Romaza is closely associated with the Catholic Holy Week (Semana Santa) as the timing of Romaza and Holy Week coincide in April. During this time Romaza leaves are used to substitute meat within cooked meals. This follows the Catholic tradition of penance, when abstinence from eating meat is to be observed each Friday during Lent (Donovan 2015). For this reason consumption of Romaza still exists as a religious tradition, particularly amongst the older, more religiously-observant age group. One participant asserted that Romazas have become more difficult to find in recent years and, although unsure, supposed this was a consequence of no longer tilling arable fields.

Tagarnina, Tagarnilla Scolymus hispanicus L. Asteraceae

‘Eso se limpia, se le quita la hoja, todo con el pincho, y queda un tallo blanco.’

‘It is cleaned, the leaf is removed, everything with the spines, and what’s left is a white stem.’

Description:

Tagarnina, also called the Spanish Oyster Plant in English, is a thistle-like biennial/perennial with erect, branching stems (Schönfelder & Schönfelder 1984). Its stems are winged and bear deeply lobed, spiny leaves (Burnie 1995). Compound yellow flowers are borne in the leaf axils clasped by spiny bracts (ibid). The plant produces a whitish latex when cut (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). Distribution: Mediterranean region, Canary Islands (Schönfelder & Schönfelder 1984). Habitat: Very commonly found in disturbed areas (Devesa Alcaraz 1995), including pastures, fallow fields, roadsides, and edges of gardens. Ethnobotany: The tagarnina is collected and used in the early spring before bolting when it becomes stiff and difficult to prepare. The mid-veins of the basal leaves are the parts eaten, most typically added to tortillas or soups. The mid-veins require cleaning before use due to the spiny, armed leaf margins. The margins are peeled away and the mid veins are lightly fried before adding to other meals. Prepared mid-veins are available for purchase in local markets in parts of Spain. One participant mentioned that the only occasions they had eaten tagarnina was with a friend who had bought them from a market in Madrid. Some participants claim that in nearby towns this plant is called cardo, while in Valverde the name cardo refers to an altogether different plant.

Tomillo Salsero Thymus mastichina (L.)L. Lamiaceae

‘Mi madre iba en los años cuando aliñaba las aceitunas de verano, y todos los años iba por la mata de tomillo para aliñar las aceitunas. Fíjate. Todos los años iba por eso.’

‘My mother would go, during the years when she would condiment the summer olives, every year she would go to the thyme bush to condiment the olives. Imagine that. Every year she would go collect it.’

Description: Tomillo Salsero, or Wild Thyme, is an upright, woody, perennial shrub and one of 30 species of thyme found in the Iberian Peninsula (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993; Burnie 1995). The stem is reddish and pubescent, with small elliptical or lanceolate leaves borne

37 in opposite bunches (Morales 2010). The inflorescence is spiciform or globose with separated verticillasters (ibid). Distribution: Mediterranean region (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). Habitat: Roadsides, cultivated fields, rocky soils, coastal dunes (Morales 2010). Ethnobotany: The small, aromatic leaves of the wild thyme are utilized as a condiment for preparing of summer olives (aceitunas de verano); they are added to the olive brine in the same manner as hinojo and oregano (see above). Additionally, wild thyme is reported as an herb that is used to impart flavour and aroma to meals made from collected snails (caracoles), a popular dish in Southern Spain. Cooked meats, such as chicken and rabbit, are also sometimes flavoured with wild thyme and other aromatic herbs. Presently, people are more likely to purchase dried thyme from supermarkets for culinary use rather than collect it from the countryside.

Figure 8. Above: Quercus ilex Bottom Left: Wild thyme, Thymus mastichina; Bottom Right: Flowering Scolymus hispanicus growing next to Asparagus acutifolius.

Chapter 5: The Alteration of LEK

There are many factors contributing to the decline in consumption and knowledge of edible wild plants in Spain and in Europe in general. These factors are tied to the abandonment of traditional farming practices and the shift to industrial agriculture. As mentioned above, the transformation of the agricultural sector has wide-ranging effects on political economies, cultural practices, and ecological environments.

The residents of Valverde de Burguillos are quite aware of the multitude of factors influencing the erosion of local ecological knowledge and the once prevalent custom of eating a wide variety of wild plant foods. The emic perception of the factors contributing to cultural change and knowledge erosion is consistent with what many scholars attribute as being major forces in the decline in LEK, and the abandonment of traditional agricultural practices in the dehesa pasturelands. Local residents recognize the interrelated elements contributing to change in the last half-century as modern population trends, changes in livelihoods, introduction of new technologies, global food supply chains, and diminished direct contact with the biophysical environment.

5.1. Former Lifestyle and Livelihoods

Securing livelihoods in the dehesa pasturelands of Valverde de Burguillos during the mid- 20th century was extremely arduous, and many people describe these times as being plagued by poverty, misery, and occasionally hunger. The need for labour was constant, and revolved around the basic activities of the dehesa; primarily the raising of domestic animals and the rotational cultivation of cereal crops. Domestic animals required herding, feeding, watering and other care, while the cultivation of cereal crops required the tilling of land, planting, harvesting and processing of the grains. All these activities relied solely on the efforts of human labour and the labour of draught animals such as horses, donkeys and mules. There was a typical sexual division of labour, with men attending to agricultural work and women responsible for domestic labours.

The structure of land tenure prevented most people from owning land, instead they were required to pay annual rents and provide a share of the harvested products to absentee landowners who normally lived in the urban centres. Typically, better-off families would rent farmhouses (cortijos) and work the land with hired labourers who also lived in and

39 around the property in small huts called chozos or bujardas. The tenant families would normally have separate hired workers to watch over the herds of pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats, respectively. Tenant families and hired workers (jornaleros) did not own the land, but in most cases did own their own livestock and were able to cultivate personal supplies of fruit and vegetable crops in gardens (huertas). However, as a consequence of the system of land tenure many families relied on the wealthier landowners and tenant families to secure work. Interview participants described the former situation to find work as a conscription of sorts. Men would gather in the village plaza in the morning to await the arrival of proprietors offering short-term employment. This conscription-style of encountering work left many men without consistent employment, and allowed for a situation of worker exploitation by proprietors.

It was common for extended families to live together in very close quarters; a small hut could potentially and often did house more than a single family. The majority of Valverde residents in the mid-20th century lived in the frontiers rather than the village proper, because that was where work was, and most people could not afford a home in the village centre. Children were valuable resources to assist in the home and fields, and often they were unable to attend school. Many older residents in Valverde were unable to attain formal education, and those that did remember that their parents did not have the same opportunities. Interview participants recall their parents working from very young ages and teaching themselves how to read and write.

5.2. Population Trends

Perhaps the largest concern for residents, in addition to being a critical obstacle to maintaining LEK, is the great population loss and subsequent generation gap that exists in the village. Valverde’s current population of 319 residents reveals a unbalanced demographic composition where young children are conspicuously absent, with only a handful of school-age children residing in the village permanently. This absence of the younger generation assures that existing knowledge of wild food plants will not be passed- on and maintained into the future.

Village residents describe the decline in population as beginning in the 1950’s and 1960’s when many residents left rural areas to find work in the industrial urban centres such as Valencia, Madrid, and Barcelona. This migration was a consequence of economic

40 industrialization and the adoption of a wage-based labour system. Here’s what one participant had to say about this process:

‘La dehesa empezó a dejarse de hacer las labores que históricamente se vinieron haciendo por falta de gente en el campo. Porque la gente emigró a las ciudades, porque aquí la gente que vivía en los pueblos vivía, pues, malamente. Entonces, había una forma de progreso, irse a las ciudades a trabajar en industria; y entonces hubo mucha gente emigró.’

‘The dehesa began to decline in the labours that were historically performed because of the lack of people in the countryside. People immigrated to the cities, because here the people who were living in the villages lived, well, badly. So it was a manner of progress, to move to the cities and work in industry; thus, there were many people who left.’

Many people sought work outside of agriculture for a variety of reasons, but perhaps the most influential motive was to secure a better quality of life for their families. People in the village who lived through this time almost unanimously agree that the lifestyle of subsistence agricultural labour in the dehesa was a time-consuming, exhausting, and generally unpleasant standard of living.

5.3. Changes in livelihood

The migration to industrial centres not only demonstrates the problem of population loss in rural areas like Valverde, but also reveals the transition of the labour force to industrial production. Consistent with the migration into urban centres in the last half-century is the fact that many people who lived and worked in the countryside did, and still do not, want their children and grandchildren to experience the difficult lifestyle that accompanies the traditional agricultural practices of the dehesa. People who migrated to find work in industrial centres hoped to achieve a more secure and better standard of living and encouraged their children to pursue education and employment in the service-oriented economy. This influence of the older generation on the perceptions, motivations, and occupations of younger people is also cited as being a factor contributing to the population decline and erosion of LEK by residents in the village.

The majority of the children born in Valverde de Burguillos since the 1970’s were fortunate to have the opportunity to leave the village to pursue education and occupations outside of agriculture. Presently, younger people desire and are encouraged to obtain

41 higher education which directs them to follow different fields of employment. Younger people also view agricultural labour as unattractive; it is time-consuming, demanding, and unprofitable. This view of agricultural work is not far from the reality; ranchers and agriculturalists in the town validate these concerns by expressing the difficulties of farming leased land, and the problems of under-valuation of the products that they produce. For young people these realities strengthen the appeal of leaving rural areas for education and employment elsewhere. Open-ended interviews revealed the fact that many younger people value the opportunities for entertainment, travel, social gatherings, education and employment that they can more easily encounter in urban areas.

‘El campo no quieren. Yo creo que por la influencia que quizás tenido por atrás. Y que siempre que ha considerado al campesino es una persona, pues eso, ruda, que no entienden de muchas cosas, que solo entienden del campo, y que eso no era el bueno. El bueno era salir, estar en una ciudad, tener un trabajo en una fábrica.’

‘They don’t want [to work in] the fields. I think it’s because of the influence that they may have had beforehand. This and the country person has always been considered uneducated, someone who doesn’t understand many things, that only understands the fields, and that this wasn’t good. It would be much better to leave, be in the city, and have a job in a factory.’

5.4. Introduction of new technologies

The adoption of new technologies within agricultural and domestic settings has played a large role in changing lifestyles and livelihoods. When people lived dispersed throughout the countryside modern amenities were not present in homes. Contemporary conveniences such as electricity, running water, and home appliances were only available in homes within the village, causing people to leave the farmhouses and resettle within the boundaries of the village. These technologies allowed for more time to devote to different activities and reduced the amount of time needed for food preparation and preservation. Consequently, people became less dependent on the subsistence ways of the past and were not required to spend as much time toiling in the countryside for the purpose of gathering water and firewood, tending livestock and many other activities. In even more recent times new technologies like computers, video games and cell phones occupy a large portion of spare time for children. This trend reduces the interest in nature amongst young people, as well as the amount of time spent outdoors.

The mechanization and modernization of agricultural production is a major factor contributing to the decline in rural population and agricultural labour. The introduction of tractors and harvesters removed the need for human and animal labour while significantly reducing the amount of time needed to complete tasks such as caring for livestock and cultivating grains. The modernization of food production, which favours large-scale, intensive production, has affected the range of agricultural activities taking place in the marginal lands of the dehesa. The shifting cultivation of cereal crops and legumes is all but abandoned in the dehesas of Valverde; now large scale cultivation of such crops take place in more productive and accessible locations.

This is a consequence of the fact that large agricultural machinery, like harvesters, are unable to access and function efficiently in most areas of the rocky, undulating terrain of Valverde’s countryside. Thus, the agricultural value of dehesa agroecosystems has polarized to the production of animals rather than arable crops. Cattle herds are said to be grazed in larger concentrations, but less people are needed to care for the animals. Nowadays a single person can look after a herd of animals or clear a field efficiently with the use of tractor.

‘Yo araba con mula, con mula araba, nada más te tirabas un día para media fanega de tierra. Hoy, llega un tractor, y en diez minutos te la echo.’

‘I would till with a mule, with a mule I would till, you would spend all day on half a fanega* of land and nothing more. Today, a tractor arrives, and in ten minutes it’s done.’

*Fanega is a unit of land measurement in Spain equalling 1.59 acres (Wordreference.com 2015) or 0.65 hectares.

5.5. Global food supply

The decline in the practice of consuming wild plant foods is also attributable to the extensive availability of commercial food products. Many residents commented that wild plants are not eaten simply because there are plenty of other options for people to eat at the present time. Older people remember the hardships of the past when money and food was not as widely available as it is today, and it was necessary to eat anything that appeared on the table during mealtimes.

‘Hoy en día estamos acostumbrado, está la gente acostumbrado a otras cosas y la gente, sobre todo la gente moza, que no le ha comido. Porque si fuera como nosotros, que nosotros hemos comido todas esas cosas. La tagarnilla, la romaza, todas las cosas que se han criado en el campo, nos gustábamos. Pero hoy que la gente moza, están que no le gusta más estas cosas. Pero como están muy bien mantenidos, pues, no quieren nada más que cosas buenas. Y se le pone filete dos o tres días, filete otra vez, y otra vez dile tú, “eso no quiero, a mí me tienes que hacer cosa, yo eso no quiero,” y nosotros no. Y yo a mis hijos se han comido lo que yo les he dado.’

‘Nowadays we’re accustomed, the people are accustomed to other things and the people, above all the young people, have not eaten [wild plants]. Because if they had lived like us, they would have eaten these things like we have. The tagarnilla, the romaza, all of these things that grow in the countryside, we’ve enjoyed them. But today the young people, they no longer like these things. As they are all well fed, well, they don’t want anything except the best. And if you feed them filets two or three days, again and again they’ll say “I don’t want that, make me something else, I don’t want that,” but for us, no. My children would eat what I would give them.’

Currently younger and older people alike see no necessity in relying on wild plant foods for sustenance when a profusion of purchasable food is readily available in supermarkets and grocery stores. This abundance has affected the practice of wild plant collection, but has likewise diminished the extent of cultivation taking place in village gardens. Personal production of storable foods like potatoes, garlic, onions etc. is practiced only by some village residents. Participants comment that purchasing foodstuffs is an expedient manner of providing food when compared to the time and energy expended to collect and prepare wild plant foods. Even locally available plants that can be easily dried and preserved, such as thyme and oregano, are not being utilized; instead people can conveniently purchase aromatic spices in pre-packaged forms. The accessibility of purchased foods at the present time is a consequence of modern, intensive cultivation techniques and the reliance on monetary capital in place of subsistence production.

5.6. New Directions in Wild Plant Consumption

Across Europe and the United States wild food consumption has begun to increase in popularity; many traditionally consumed wild plants are re-emerging as potential health foods and are increasingly used in many speciality and avant-garde restaurants (Łuczaj et al. 2012). Heightened public interest in wild foods has led to the current profusion of plant foraging workshops, internet resources, and literary publications; what’s more, wild foods are beginning to resurface in many markets across the western world (ibid). Still, these new

44 trends are slowly taking form and it remains to be seen how they will persist; as demonstrated throughout the current work wild plant consumption has greatly declined, and the customs of use and range of wild foods now consumed have been greatly eroded in recent times.

However, new trends in the consumption of wild foods are evident in Valverde de Burguillos, and are most easily understood in the activities of wild plant collectors and hobbyists, but older residents are also aware of these changing trends. An elderly interview participant mentioned the emerging use of Acebuche, or Wild Olives (Olea europea var. sylvestris), as a source of specialty olive oil. According to all interview participants these fruits are not considered edible for people, they are small, tough and sour, normally eaten by livestock and birds; although they may have been used in past as a famine food. The re- emerging collection of Ajo Porro by plant foragers (Chapter 4), a plant that many regard as uncommonly eaten, also hints at the changing tastes and resurfacing practices of wild plant consumption.

5.6.1 Wild Mushrooms

Amongst the younger generations, especially outdoor enthusiasts and plant collectors, wild mushrooms have become lucrative and fascinating wild foods that are highly sought after. Although mushrooms do not belong to the Plant Kingdom, their human use is analogous to the collection of wild plants and therefore constitutes an interesting topic in the consumption of wild foods. Although mushroom species were eaten in the past, plant collectors’ knowledge does not seem to be based entirely on historical traditions; this is evidenced by the fact many young people use the scientific binomials in place of local names for many mushroom species. Additionally, residents of Valverde say that there isn’t much of a custom of consuming wild mushrooms, and that in the frontiers of the village it is difficult to encounter wild populations of mushroom species. Common mushrooms that are collected in the Zafra Río Bodion region include Amanita ponderosa (Gurumelo), and Terfezia arenaria (Criadilla).

5.7. Discussion

The information expressed by the residents of Valverde de Burguillos concerning different aspects of eating wild plant foods overwhelmingly supports the observation that changes

45 in agricultural production have greatly contributed to the modern decline in LEK of wild edible plants in Valverde de Burguillos, and elsewhere in Spain and Europe. Ultimately, these changes stem from the modernisation of the agricultural sector which has greatly influenced rural livelihoods and populations, food availability, and direct contact with the natural environment for people of all ages and genders. It appears that the wealth of knowledge about wild plant foods has greatly diminished as a result of economic industrialization.

This change in agricultural production has also affected the function and maintenance of the traditional dehesa agroecosystem. These socio-economic changes reflect the way in which ecosystems, human societies, plant species, and local knowledge are interconnected and how all these elements are affected by the same factors. The multiple effects caused by the abandonment of traditional agricultural production demonstrate the co-evolutionary concept of biocultural diversity, the theory that has guided this research project.

Firstly, the transition away from traditional agricultural production has caused changes in the landscape of the dehesa; shrub composition has increased, while shifting cultivation and tree regeneration have decreased. The decline in periodic disturbance and change in the vegetative composition poses a risk for the abundance of edible plant populations, most of which are weed species that thrive in disturbed habitats and fallow fields. Secondly, the decline in the traditional labours and livelihoods of the dehesa causes the erosion of LEK associated with wild plant consumption and traditional livelihoods.

Although the erosion of wild food-related LEK is certainly a loss with respect to cultural diversity and resource management practices, it is understandable in the context of securing livelihoods and providing a better standard of living. Romanticized notions of the subsistence lifestyle of the past disregards the real hardships that people experienced during much of the 20th century. Wild plant consumption still exists, but its modern context reflects the shifting attitudes, livelihoods and values of the current population and new trends that value the consumption and knowledge of wild plant foods. Still, there are real health benefits to the integration of wild foods into people’s diets, in addition to the economic opportunities brought about by the collection and sale of wild foods.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

The ethnobotanical investigation presented in this dissertation has explored and described the dynamics relating to the LEK of wild plant foods in a small rural village in Southern Spain. The guiding theoretical framework of biocultural diversity was employed to illustrate the interconnected relationship between human cultural diversity, represented in this case by LEK of wild plant foods, and the socio-ecological environment. Since this investigation was highly interdisciplinary, many diverse concepts and theories converge in this dissertation. The theories and concepts of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Agrarian Change, and Wild Plant Foods have served to support the co-evolutionary and multifaceted topic of edible wild plant knowledge, use, and modern transformation.

6.1. Results

The result of this research project and dissertation is a contextualised account of the biocultural dynamics related to the shifting knowledge and consumption of wild plant foods in Valverde de Burguillos, Extremadura, Spain. A selection of wild plant foods known and used by the residents of Valverde was identified, and the knowledge and customs of use related to each species was discussed. This discussion included the prevalence of use, and the current practices of consumption of wild plant species. Participants’ perceptions about the factors contributing to wild plant consumption, and the contemporary transformations affecting local knowledge was presented and examined. The findings from the original data were interpreted with the scholarly insights of key theories, which supported the observations obtained during fieldwork.

This dissertation has shown that the practice of consuming wild plants by humans has been shaped by evolutionary forces, both environmental and cultural, for reasons attributed to human health, dietary nutrition, and food security. Moreover, the localised knowledge of wild plant resources is an example of cultural diversity that is thoroughly influenced by social interaction with the environment. The continuation, transmission, and transformation of this knowledge is subject to social, cultural, and environmental factors; these ever- changing elements ensure a great variability and dynamism of understandings and practices related to wild plant foods and their consumption.

The social-ecological context of the traditional dehesa agroecosystem demonstrates the historical origins and former livelihoods that have established local understandings and

47 practices associated with wild plant consumption. The shift away from these traditional land-use systems and the practice of subsistence agricultural production has been indicated as the major force defining the current dynamics of LEK of wild food plants; namely, the steep decline in knowledge and consumption of botanical resources during recent times. This shift has been attributed to modern socio-economic changes, namely the global development of an industrial, capitalist economy. The alteration of agricultural practices simultaneously erodes biological diversity and transforms ecosystems, suggesting that the erosion of cultural diversity is instigated by the same forces threatening biological environments and biodiversity.

Understandably, the alteration of the social-ecological environment manifests in different ways; it involves changes in populations and livelihoods, and technological and economic developments. The participants involved in this study are deeply conscious of these modifications; their individual perceptions of change align with the theoretical and empirical explanations of LEK transformation, and subsequently the modern decline in the consumption of wild plant foods. All these elements contribute to a reduction in the amount of direct interaction between society and the environment, radically altering the nature of people’s knowledge and their utilization of wild plant foods. In the end, the discussion of change presented in the current work supports the view that cultural and biological diversity are indeed interrelated concepts; moreover, it substantiates the evolutionary character of cultural knowledge. In the rapidly-changing era of globalisation, the evolutionary trajectories of local environmental knowledge systems and the customs of consuming wild plants remain to be seen; but will undoubtedly continue to evolve with time.

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Appendix 1. Complete table of edible plants

Table displaying the range of wild plants mentioned in unstructured and semi-structured interviews (including mushrooms).

Family Common name Scientific binomial Parts used

Vascular Plants Amaryllidaceae Ajo Porro Allium Bulb ampeloprasum Apiaceae Hinojo; Acinojo Foeniculum vulgare Stems Berraza Apio nodiflorum Leaves Asparagaceae Espárrago blanco Asparagus alba Shoots Espárrago triguero A. acutifolius Asteraceae Tagarnina; Tagarnilla Scolymus hispanicus Mid-veins Brassicaceae Berro Nasturtium officinale Leaves Cactaceae Chumbera; Higo Chumbo Opuntia maxima Fruits Caryophyllaceae Conejera Silene vulgaris Leaves and stems Chenopodiaceae Acelga bravía Beta maritima Leaves Fagaceae Bellotas de Encina Quercus ilex Fruits Lamiaceae Orégano Origanum sp. Leaves and stem Poleo Mentha pulegium Leaves and stem Romero Rosmarinus Leaves officinalis Tomillo salsero Thymus mastichina Leaves Malvaceae Malva Malva sylvestris Fruits Lavatera cretica Fruits Polygonaceae Acerone Rumex scutatus Leaves Romaza R. pulcher Leaves Rosaceae Tila; Espino Albar Crataegus mongyna Flowers (infusion) Zarza; Zarza mora Rubus ulmifolius Fruits

Wild Mushrooms Amanitaceae Gurumelo Amanita ponderosa Mushroom Pezizaceae Criadilla Terfezia arenaria Mushroom

Appendix 2. Additional plant profiles

Space did not allow for the inclusion of these two additional profiles in the main body of the dissertation, so they are included here.

Acerone Rumex scutatus Polygonaceae

‘Los acerones normalmente suelen estar en las paredes, las paredes pero mientras más, más viejas, más posibilidades de que haya esa planta.’ ‘The acerones are normally found in the [stone] walls, but the older the wall, the greater the possibility that there is this plant.’

Description: The Acerone, or French Sorrel (PFAF n.d.), is a rhizomatous, herbaceous perennial with erect stems branching at the base (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). The leaves are oppositely arranged and ovoid-lanceolate with leaves possessing two basal lobes (ibid). Inflorescence simple, fruit an achene (ibid). Distribution: Throughout the Mediterranean. Habitat: Amongst boulders and limestone soils (ibid). The acidic-tasting Acerone is often found growing in and around the stone walls of pastures, farms, gardens and villages. As the above quote mentions, the older the wall, the more probable it is that one will encounter this plant growing amidst the stones. Comments: The acidic flavour is a well-known characteristic of the plant, even amongst people who haven’t eaten it. This plant is green and edible during the spring months before it flowers. It is stated as being used in salads and added to garbanzo stews. People also mention eating this plant raw during walks or outings in the countryside. It is a plant once associated with young men who would eat the raw leaves while herding animals. Older people in the village can recall specific locations in the town where stands of Acerone are known to grow.

Orégano Origanum vulgare subsp. virens (Hoffmans. & Link) Ietsw. Lamiaceae

‘El orégano [es] para las aceitunas, y para la pasta ahora, porque antes no se cocinaba pasta.’

‘Oregano is used for the olives, and now for pastas, but before people didn’t cook pasta.’

Description: Oregano is an aromatic perennial herb in the mint family widely known for its culinary and medicinal use since early times. It’s ovoid-elliptical leaves are oppositely arranged with lightly dentate margins; the basal leaves are petiolate, and superior leaves sessile (Devesa Alcaraz 1995). The hermaphroditic, zygomorphic flowers are arranged in spikes of verticillasters in the leaf axils (ibid). Distribution: Throughout the Mediterranean region. Habitat: Rough grassy or rocky locations, dry sunny habitats, roadsides (Blamey & Grey-Wilson 1993). Comments: Wild oregano is reported not to be found within the limits of Valverde de Burguillos, but the frontiers of the neighbouring village of Alcornera are said to support an abundance of this species. In local cuisine oregano was, and still is, used to impart aroma and flavour in the preparation of crushed olives (aceitunas machadas). Presently, it is commonly used to flavour meats, pastas, and many other foods. Collection and sale of wild oregano is said to be a lucrative business, but the majority of its culinary use is from cultivated sources purchased in supermarkets. One participant commented that the population of wild oregano has declined, and speculated that this is a result of improper harvesting techniques.

Appendix 3. Additional figures

1. Image of the frontier regions of Valverde de Burguillos. The landscape is predominated by dehesa. In the foreground many encroaching shrubs of Retama sphaerocarpa can be seen.

2. The Chumbera (Opuntia maxima, Cactaceae) is a naturalised cactus once widely utilized as a living fence for animal enclosures or gardens. Many people enjoy eating the sweet, ripe fruits peeled and raw. The fruits are called higos or higos chumbos. This individual stand of cactus is located in the village centre next to a public well used for laundry and irrigation.

3. Allium ampeloprasum growing alongside a stone wall in a public village park adjacent to a tributary of the Río Bodión. Note the plant’s similarity to the cultivated leek.

4. Stalks and remaining leaf of Acerone (Rumex scutatus, Polygonaceae) amidst a background of fruiting stalks. At this stage in it life cycle this plant would not be eaten.

5. Espárrago triguero (Asparagus acutifolius).

6. Two examples of small homes (Bujarda) once typical of agricultural day workers (Jornaleros). Small homes like this could house several families at a single time.

7. Abandoned grain mill (molino) on the outskirts of Valverde de Burguillos. Water would flow through the canal and fall downwards, hydraulically powering the mill.

8. Quercus ilex (encina) foliage and developing acorns (bellotas).