Phyto-Pharmacopoeias in Motion: An Ethnobotanical Approach to Geographical and Cultural Circulations on the French Guiana coastal region.

French Guiana is a French overseas territory located in South America, between Surinam and Northern Brazil. There, Amerindian peoples, Maroon and Creole populations, as well as recently immigrated communities, meet.

Cultural interactions are then complex and continuous. Both plants and their knowledge travel between the different communities, contributing to the renewing and continuous re-hybridization of present day phytotherapies.

Based on almost 200 interviews conducted on Guiana coastal area, and thanks to multivariate analyses, we draw an exploratory description of ethnobotanical flows. Our talk considers interchanged medicinal plants, involved stakeholders and knowledge circulation patterns, especially on border zones with Brazil and Surinam. Our ethnobotanical approach then appears quite relevant for understanding the role of knowledge and plant circulation in hybridization of Guiana pharmacopoeias and spreading of health practices.