Some Medicinal Bryophytes: their Ethnobotanical Uses and Morphology

Medicinal bryophytes and their morphological features and ethnic uses were examined and documented. Field collections of bryophytes were made through transect walks along the two mountain sites of Bukidnon, namely: Mt. Kalatungan and Mt. Kitanglad. The number of taxa currently determined with medicinal properties was based from the collected species. The species with medicinal uses was generated from a pool of resources, literature review and scientific journals. Description on their morphological characters was made using microscopic examinations. Taxonomic characters used include leaf orientation, stem structure, sporophyte characters and their habit to classify into families, genera and species. Species composition between study sites was also compared. Visual habitat as to habitat preference and identification for each species was employed. Results of the study highlight the difference in the morphological features among species of medicinal bryophytes, their ethnic uses, and adaptations within the forested area. Mt. Kitanglad exhibited seventeen (17) species of medicinal bryophytes. Of these, eleven (11) are mosses belonging to seven (7) families in eleven (11) genera and six (6) liverworts belonging to five (5) families in six (6) genera. Mt. Kalatungan exhibited fourteen belonging to six (6) families in eight (8) genera and six (6) liverworts belonging to five (5) families in six (6) genera. The moss species with medicinal properties belongs to the genera Sphagnum, Polytrichum, Rhodobryum, Fissidens, Bryum, Mnium, Dawsonia, Philonotis, Pogonatum, Barbula and Plagiomnium. The liverworts species include Marchantia, Pallavicinia, Herbertus, Riccardia, Dumortiera and Plagiochila. The species under study exhibited antimicrobial activity, anti-tumor, anti-cancer, antileukemic activity and healing effects based from secondary data.

 

Keywords - ethnobotany, morphology, bryophytes, taxonomic treatment, floristic, ethnic uses