96
This applies equally to animals that the Solega might wish to avoid because of the
danger they pose to humans—knowing the preferred plant foods of bears, wild pigs,
elephants and gaur would allow Solega people to be more alert when in the vicinity
of these plants. There is, of course, a non- utilitarian aspect to this knowledge. I
argue in Chap. 6 , in the section ‘Relationships’ that Solega characterisations of the
behaviour of animals vividly illustrate the great affi nity that people feel with non-
human organisms. The transcripts in Chap. 6 show that such characterisations fre-
quently include comments on animals’ feeding and self-medication habits. Solega
people are keen observers of plant–animal interactions not only because such
knowledge is frequently useful to humans, but also because the humans identify
with the animals in question.
Table 3.4 (continued)
Solega name
(complete) Scientifi c name Forest type Use
pa:riva:ḷada mara Butea monosperma Children play with the
seeds; they are rubbed
vigorously on a rock to heat
them up before pressing
them onto the victim’s skin
poṭle giḍa Passifl ora calcarata Children play with the fruit
by popping them between
their fi ngers
The plants listed above are those for which the author has been able to determine a reliable scien-
tifi c identifi cation and record a traditional use. Therefore, they represent a subset of all plant name s
documented in the Solega language. # indicates a plant that belongs to more than one use category.
Forest types are described in detail in Chap. 5 , but briefl y, ka:nu can be translated as ‘ evergreen
forest ’, male as ‘highland deciduous or mixed forest’ and na:ḍu as ‘lowland forest/scrub’
3 Plants in Solega Language and Culture