An Ethnobotanical Research on Woody Ornamental Plants Used in Landscaping of Recreation Areas in Çanakkale City

Abstract

As one of the most important parts of urban open-green spaces, plant material has many aesthetic, functional and ecological advantages. From past to present, builders have utilized plants for many different purposes such as medicine, food, furniture making, etc. The concept of ethnobotany, which expresses the place of plants in the human-nature relationship, appears as an umbrella concept in economic, ecological and cultural terms. Many ornamental plants that we encounter in urban recreation have ethnobotanical use and the use of these plants may differ from region to region. For this purpose, existing woody ornamental plants in four recreation areas with different qualities in Çanakkale province, which has been an important settlement of many civilizations since ancient times, constitute the main material of the study. Within the scope of the study, 2 coastal landscaping areas, 1 city park and 1 university campus were determined as research areas and the ethnobotanical uses of woody ornamental plants in these areas were examined. As a result, it was determined that 97 ornamental plant taxa had ethnobotanical uses in the areas. The majority of these plants were found to have medicinal (34.56%) and food (26.74%) uses. Considering the high ethnobotanical use potential of plant material used in urban recreation areas, these plants should be promoted, and awareness should be created. As a final result of on-site observations and statistical evaluations in the study, suggestions were made for the ethnobotanical uses of ornamental plants in urban recreation areas.