As an ethnobotanist, I study traditional plant use. Together with several PhD students, postdocs and MSc students, I am involved in a number of research projects: traditional rice varieties grown in the Guianas, historical herbaria and botanical drawings in the Leiden treasure rooms, plant use by hunter-gatherers in Cameroon, migrations of plants and people, medicinal and ritual plant use.
Keywords
Ethnobotany, historic collections, medicinal plants, ritual plants, Suriname, taro, traditional rice, West and Central Africa, wild food plants
Researchinterest
Listening to the story behind a useful plant helps me to discover people’s unwritten history. Documenting traditional knowledge on wild food and local crop landraces helps us to understand how people have been survived on hunter-gathering and self-sufficient agriculture in the past centuries.
Within the Clusius chair at Leiden University, I am involved in the study of historic herbaria and botanical drawings, made by early scientists and explorers in the 16th, 17th and 18th century. These collections often include medicinal and otherwise useful plants from tropical countries. Examples are botanical drawings of medicinal plants, documented by VOC ship doctors in Ceylon, the book herbaria of the German explorer Leonhard Rauwolf, The Historia Naturalis Brasiliensis (1648) for Dutch Brazil, and several other historic herbaria made by anonymous botanists.
In cooperation with the Biosystematics group at Wageningen University and several international partners, I do research on traditional rice cultivars grown by Maroons in Suriname and French Guiana. Genetic research on traditional rice cultivars can show the migration routes of people's and plants, and exchange of cultivars among different ethnic groups. Ethnobotanical research teaches us the motivations and practices of Maroons to keep their rice diversity. Historical and archival research places the Maroon oral history and genetic outcomes in a broader perspective.
Currenttopics
- Traditional rice landraces grown by Aucan and Saramaccan Maroons in Suriname and French Guiana (with Eric Schranz, Marieke van de Loosdrecht, Nicholaas Pinas, Harro Maat, Robin van Velzen).
- Migration of taro (Colocasia esculenta) from Africa to the New World and back t Europe(with Ilaria Grimaldi and Qiong Fang)
- Historic herbaria in the treasure room of Naturalis (with Anastasia Stefanaki and Aleid Offerhaus):
- The En Tibi herbarium (1558)
- Herbaria of Leonhard Rauwolf (1535-1596)
- Herbaria Simone D'Oignies (ca. 1730)
- Zierikzee herbarium (ca. 1720)
- Ethnobotany of the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (with Mariana de Campos Francozo and Mireia Alcantara Rodriguez)
- Wild edible plants eaten by Baka people in southeast Cameroon (with Sandrine Gallois and Amanda Henry)
- Traditional herbal medicine (with Mei Wang and Bob Jia).
- Amazonian body ornaments made from seeds (with Caroline Fernandes Caromano)
- Plants associated with witchcraft in Western Europe in past and present (with Isabela Pombo Geertsma)
Keypublications
- Van de Loosdrecht, MS; NM Pinas, J Tjoe Awie, F Becker, H Maat, T.R. van Andel, M.E. Schranz. 2024. Maroon rice genomic diversity reflects 350 years of colonial history. Molecular Biology and Evolution 41 (10): msae204.
- Fang, Q., P.J. Matthews; I.M. Grimaldi; H. de Jong; J. van de Belt; M.E. Schranz; T.R. van Andel. 2024. The invisible tropical tuber crop: edible aroids (Araceae) sold as ‘tajer’ in the Netherlands. Economic Botany. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-024-09624-y
- Elfrink, T.L., van de Hoeff, M.J.J., van Montfort, J., Bruins, A.L., van Andel, T.R. 2024. Rice Cultivation and the Struggle for Subsistence in Early Colonial Suriname (1668-1702). New West Indian Guide 98 (issue 3-4): 306-329.
- Pironon, S, Diazgranados, M, R Allkin, AC Baquero, R Cámara-Leret, T.R. van Andel et al. 2024. The global distribution of plants used by humans. Science 383 (6680), 293-297.
- Pinas, N.M.; Jackson, J.; Mosis, N.A.; Van Andel, T.R. 2024. The Mystery of Black Rice: food, medicinal and spiritual use of Oryza glaberrima by Maroons in Suriname and French Guyana. Human Ecology. 52:823–836.
- Pombo Geertsma, I, CFH van der Linden, R Vickery, TR van Andel. 2024. Why are plants named after witches and devils in north-western Europe? Journal of Ethnopharmacology325: 117804.
- Peripato, V., Levis, C., ...ter Steege, H., van Andel, TR et al. 2023. More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia. Science 382 (6666): 103-109.
- Stefanaki, A., Porck, H., Grimaldi, I. M., Thurn, N., Pugliano, V., Kardinaal, A., ... & van Andel, T.R. (2019). Breaking the silence of the 500-year-old smiling garden of everlasting flowers: The En Tibi book herbarium. PloS one, 14(6), e0217779.
PhDsupervision
Several PhD students are active in the field of Ethnobotany under my supervision
- Nicholaas Pinas (Naturalis, Wageningen University) Maroon rice cultivation in Suriname and French Guiana
- Isabela Pombo Geertsma (Utrecht University). Witchcraft plants in the past and present
- Lisa Johnson (Utrecht University) Growing tropical fruits in 18th century Leiden.
- Aleid Offerhaus (Naturalis, Leiden University) 18th century herbaria in the Leiden treasure rooms
- Qiong (June) Fang (Wageningen University) Taro diversity and acridity
- Susanne Masters (Leiden University) Harvest of orchids for salep production
Teachingactivities
- Organization of the course Ethnobotany (Wageningen University) every year in June
Guest lectures in the course Plant Families of the Tropics (Leiden University) every year in January
In themedia
All media coverage and interviews are posted on my website.
Fieldwork with the Baka in southeast Cameroon. Picture: Thomas Heger