Asteraceae medicinais ocorrentes no estado de Pernambuco.

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants and herbal medicines is considered an important practice to maintain the health of different social classes. In rural areas, residents often depend directly on available plant resources for their livelihoods. The Asteraceae family is considered the largest existing family of angiosperms, comprising about 25.000 species, many of them with medicinal potential. In this context, the present work had as objective the description of ten species of medicinal Asteraceae occurring in the Caatinga of the state of Pernambuco. The species studied were: Acanthospermum hispidum DC; Achyrocline satureioides (Lam.) DC; Acmella uliginosa (Sw.) Cass; Ageratum conyzoides L; Conyza sumatrensis (Retz.) E.H. Walker; Eclipta prostrata (L.) L; Egletes viscosa (L.) Less; Pluchea sagittalis (Lam.) Cabrera; Verbesina macrophylla (Cass.) S.F. Blake; and Vernonia polyanthes Less. The species were first described as to their morphology through the analysis of exsiccates and their different parts were illustrated. A literature review was also carried out to describe its main medicinal properties. In this way, we sought to contribute to the knowledge of medicinal species occurring in the Caatinga, especially those belonging to the Asteraceae family, thus facilitating their identification and use by the population.