PURSUING THE FRUITS OF KNOWLEDGE: COGNITIVE ETHNOBOTANY IN MISSOURI'S LITTLE DIXIE

This sludy investigates cthnobotanical knowledge variation in Little Dixie, a folk cultural rcgion in Central Missouri. Data wcrc obtained from twenty "experts" and twenty "novices" who fre~-listed Ihe names and uses for wild plants and rated Ihem according to cultural usefulness, ecological value, beauty, and overall appeal. 11 is hypolhesized and demonstrated that novices privilcge species that an> perceptually distinctive and ecologically abundant, while cxperts emphasize specil:.'5 with high usc potential. Accordingly, novices emphasize beau­ ty, a form-b<lsed variable, in their evaluation of listed species, while experts em­ phasize cultural utility, a function-based variable. These results suggest thai the acquisition of ethnobotanical expertise entails a shift from morphological, imag­ istic information processing to the cognitive assimilation of abstracl, utilitarian factors gained through learning and cultural experience.