Ethnobotany of Medicinal Plants from High Mountains: The Case Study of Lombardy (Italy)

Italy), has undergone a noticeable process of evolution from different points of view. This chapter guides the reader in this evolutionary path through the analysis of the ethnobotanical investigations published in this region in the last 15 years. Special attention is paid to two aspects of ethnobotany: the analysis and presentation of the primary data as a useful tool for selecting target species for the subsequent phytochemical and pharmacological research and the description of the last and often neglected phase of a survey, namely the return to the territory and its population with the thorough dissemination of the scientific results. Through the critical analysis of the current scientific literature in the ethnobotanical field and the proposal of specific examples based on the investigations conducted in Lombardy, this journey unfolds along these two parallel tracks to finally merge in the cyclic course of ethnobotany, in which scientific research goes forward and looks to the future, starting from the traditions of a territory and returning to the same territory, ever moving, ever evolving, never forgetting its roots.