Ethnobotanical Knowledge and the Development of Medicinal Plant Cultivation, Collection and Trade in Eastern Galicia, 1910–1940

This study examines the historical, ethnographic, pharmacognostical, and organizational dimensions of medicinal-plant cultivation, collection, and utilisation in Eastern Galicia (present-day western Ukraine, also known as Halychyna) during the early twentieth century. It explores the interplay between folk medicine, herbal traditions, and emerging efforts to organise medicinal-plant production and collection systematically. Particular attention is given to the activities of the Lviv-based Nasze Zioła ("Our Herbs") Society, established in 1913 to promote medicinal-plant cultivation, rational collection practices, and the commercial distribution of plant raw materials. The study analyses the medicinal-plant species assortment described in historical sources and examines archival documents, records of the Regional School Council, contemporary professional periodicals, and the relevant works of the botanist and pharmacist Jan Biegański. These sources are used to reconstruct the Society's organisational activities, educational initiatives, and role in connecting local plant resources and traditional knowledge with contemporary pharmacognostical principles and commercial procurement. The findings highlight the contribution of Nasze Zioła to the development of organised medicinal-plant cultivation and collection in the region, illustrating how community participation, educational efforts, and scientific knowledge intersected in the history of medicinal-plant use in Eastern Galicia.