Utilitarian and cognitive aspects in the ethnotaxonomy of plants from the Caatinga in two rural communities in Northeastern Brazil

This research sought to contribute to plant ethnotaxonomic studies and aimed to describe cognitive and utilitarian aspects used in communities in the semi-arid region of Brazil. The question asked in the interview was: "What plants do you know?" The interviews were conducted with local specialists, using plant names written on cards randomly placed on a table. The informants were asked to organize the cards according to their understanding. Two hundred and one folk generics were recorded in Cachoeira and 185 in Barrocas, both communities located in the Municipality of Soledade (Paraíba). These generics were divided into 65 trees/shrubs, 138 herbs, 10 lianas/creepers, 7 cacti, and 4 bromeliads. A total of 146 monotypic and 24 polytypic folk generic were identified. The life forms were abundant; some of them had already been recorded in the literature but others were recorded for the first time. The morphological and utilitarian aspects were the most used classification criteria. The informants followed no consensus model to organize their classification.