Dissymmetry at the border: wild food and medicinal ethnobotany of Slovenes and Friulians in NE Italy

Cross-cultural and cross-border research represents a valuable tool for addressing traditional plant knowledge variability and change. An ethnobotanical field study was carried out during late spring 2018 within two culturally and linguistically distinct communities (Friulian and Slovenian speakers) in Friuli Venezia Giulia, NE Italy. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews with 32 local inhabitants regarding the use of wild and semi-domesticated food and medicinal plants. We recorded 108 botanical taxa, of which 79 were common to both communities. Despite a common ecological landscape and an overlap in the overall used taxa, some differences were recorded for the most commonly utilized taxa. This indicates that the culture and language of minorities may have played an important role in preserving biocultural identity and customs. Our study shows how dissymmetry was shaped by the different distances of the two groups to the dominant standard Italian mainstream over the last few centuries and how cultural identity is actually constructed in relation to a dominant cultural code. Future studies should address the strategies of biocultural adaptation and resilience in multiethnic and multilingual crossroad regions.