Native Medicinal Plants of Kansas

The ethnobotanical record is a rich source of material culture that adds layers of understandings about the interconnected spaces between people and plants.  Our study aims to illustrate how a database can be utilized to retrieve information regarding the historical use of medicinal plant species in Kansas. There are 2,234 species in Kansas of which 712 are recorded as having medicinal uses. Thirty‐two percent of Kansas plants are used for medicine and 68 percent are categorized as non‐medicinal. We analyzed the data using regression analysis. The results of our study were compared to published data on the North American distribution of medicinal plant families. A ranking and comparison of the data resulted in a clear distinction between the distribution of these families, in North America, and the distribution in Kansas. Finally, we assess the statistical relevance of the information and other statistical methods used for similar purposes by other researchers.