Medicinale en rituele planten van Suriname. 2024. illus. (col. photogr. & b/w line drawings), 528 p. gr8vo. Paper bd.- In Dutch.

Suriname is a country with both great cultural diversity and high biodiversity. The Surinamese jungle harbours a wealth of medicinal herbs, but over the centuries African slaves and Asian contract workers also brought numerous useful plants with them. Natives, Creoles, Maroons, Hindostans, Javanese: each ethnic group has its own religion, language, rituals and ideas about disease and health. Yet a lot of knowledge exchange also takes place. For instance, Indian use plants end up in Creole herbal baths for the ingi winti (Indian spirit) and Chinese plants also turn up in the Surinamese pharmacopoeia.

This book is the result of several years of scientific research by the National Herbarium of the Netherlands (now Naturalis Biodiversity Center) and Ghent University into plant use for medicinal, magical and religious purposes. The book is based on fieldwork in the regions of Paramaribo, Pará, Wanica, Marowijne and Brokopondo, supplemented by literature data.

This field guide contains scientific and local names, botanical and usage descriptions of more than 400 different plant species, and is richly illustrated with drawings and colour photographs. Additional attention has also been paid to the meaning of local names and the historical background of plant use.