摘要 : Almost every city and town in South Africa has some form of trade in medicinal plants for medicinal or cultural purposes, most often through informal street markets or small shops known as Amayeza stores (Amayeza is the Xhosa word... 展开 Almost every city and town in South Africa has some form of trade in medicinal plants for medicinal or cultural purposes, most often through informal street markets or small shops known as Amayeza stores (Amayeza is the Xhosa word for medicine) or Muthi shops. A reeent survey of the trade of medicinal plants in the six largest urban centers of the Eastern Cape (Fig. 1) has revealed some startling results (Cocks & Dold, 2000). No less than 166 plant species are regularly harvested from wild populations and sold for medicinal and cultural purposes. The highest quantity recorded for a single species is 3,635 kg per annum for Ilex mitis (L.) Radlk., a forest tree that has its bark removed for medicinal purposes. The highest value recorded was (in U.S. dollars) dollar 8.71 per kilogram for Behnia retieulata (Thunb.) Didr., a forest climber. It is estimated that 484 tons of wild-harvested plant material is traded in the six city centers in the Eastern Cape alone every year, generating an income of 2.43 million dollar per annum. As lucrative as this may sound, it is shared amongst so many traders that the average monthly income is between 819.20 and 64.10 dollar. 收起