Ethnopharmacologicalrelevance: Most exoticplantsareusuallylabelledasalieninvasivesandtargeted
for eradication.However,someoftheseexoticplantsplayanimportantroleinthetraditionalprimary
healthcaresectoroftheBapedicultureintheLimpopoProvinceofSouthAfrica.Themedicinalusesof
mostofthesespecieshaveneitherbeendocumentednortheirbiologicalactivityevaluated.
Aim ofthestudy: To makeaninventoryofexoticspeciesemployedbyBapeditraditionalhealerstotreat
differenthumanailmentsintheLimpopoProvince,SouthAfrica.
Materialsandmethods: Semi-structuredinterviews,observationandguidedfieldwalkswith52
traditionalhealerswereemployedtoobtainethnobotanicaldataduringfirsthalfof2011ontheuse
of exoticplantspeciesbyBapedihealerstotreathumanailments.Basedonethnobotanicalinformation
providedbythesehealers,specimenswerecollected,numbered,pressed,anddriedforidentification.
Results: A totalof35exoticsspeciesbelongingto21familiesand34genera,mostlyfromtheFabaceae
and Solanaceae(11.4%foreach),ApocynaceaeandAsteraceae(8.5%foreach)wereusedbyBapedi
healerstotreat20humanailments.Trees(45.7%)andherbs(37.1%)aretheprimarysourceofmedicinal
plants.Speciesmostfrequentlyreportedwereusedforthetreatmentofhypertension(35%),diabetes
mellitus,erectiledysfunctionandgonorrhoea(25%foreach).Thehighestconsensusfromindividual
accountsofthetraditionalhealersontheuseofexoticplantremediesinthisstudywasnotedforthe
three ailments.Thesewerefor Catharanthusroseus (gonorrhoea,60%), Punicagranatum (diarrhoea,
38.4%) and Ricinus communis (sores, 21.5%).Ofthe35exoticplantspeciesrecorded,34.2%areregulated
by the ConservationofAgriculturalResourcesAct(1983) (CARA) No.43of1983eitherasworstweeds
or invaders.
Conclusion: The presentstudydemonstratedthatexoticplantspeciesplayanimportantpartas
medicinalremediesemployedbyBapedihealerstotreatdifferenthumandiseasesintheLimpopo
Province.Theuseofthesespeciesasalternativesourcesofmedicinalremediescouldalleviate
harvestingpressureofwildindigenousplants,therebyenhancebiodiversity’sregion.However,there
is aneedtoformulateanappropriatepolicytoretainsomeoftheusefulmedicinalexotics(listedunder
CARA No.43of1983)withintheenvironmentbeforetheirmedicinalvaluevanishesastheyare
eradicatedthroughmanagementstrategiesadoptedbytheSouthAfricangovernment.