On the taxonomic status of folk botanic categories among the Samburu

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Periodical article

Title:	On the taxonomic status of folk botanic categories among the Samburu
Authors:	Heine, B. Koenig, C.
Year:	1987
Periodical:	Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere: Schriftenreihe des Kölner Instituts für Afrikanistik
Issue:	10
Pages:	31-52
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	Samburu ethnobotany taxonomy plants
Abstract:	This paper is based on ethnobotanical research carried out in 1987 in Nguronit, on the border of the Samburu and Marsabit Districts, northern Kenya. Its aim was to examine how the nomadic Samburu classify and use the plant world. The analysis shows a remarkable difference in the way in which the plant world is conceptualized by women and by men. Another finding concerns the nature of the taxonomic categories distinguished: although the categories 'tree', 'grass', and 'weed' are in a paradigmatic relationship, they reveal divergent conceptual contours. The categories 'tree' and 'grass' are defined in terms of consistent features or feature configurations, whereas the category 'weed' lacks a marked prototype structure and is much more pragmatically determined. The analysis further suggests that growth forms like herbs and vines are culture-dependent concepts distinguished by some societies but not by others. App., bibliogr., notes, ref.