Medicinal plants of Armenia
Data and text – George Fayvush (Institute of Botany after A. Takhtajyan NAS RA)
Armenia is home to a very large number of medicinal plant species. Only a small number of them are included in the official pharmacopoeia, while the vast majority are used in traditional medicine. The medicinal properties of plants native to Armenia have been known since ancient times. As early as the Middle Ages, Armenian scholars wrote specialized treatises on medicinal plants (Harutyunyan, 1990). During the Soviet period, the Institute of Fine Organic Chemistry of the Armenian Academy of Sciences had a department dedicated specifically to studying the medicinal properties of wild plants in Armenia. Today, people mostly rely on pharmaceutical industry products, but at the same time, there is a growing trend toward the use of natural products, including medicinal plants.
From the vast diversity of medicinal plants in Armenia, we selected 155 species for analysis — those that are most widespread and most commonly used in traditional medicine. These species are found across various elevation zones and natural ecosystems (Figure 1, Table 1).
The highest number of medicinal plant species is concentrated in the middle and upper mountain belts, primarily in forests, steppes, meadow-steppes, open woodlands, and subalpine meadows.
Figure 1. The number of medicinal plant species characteristic for different types of natural vegetation
Table 1. The number of medicinal plant species characteristic for different types of natural vegetation
| Type of vegetation | Species number |
| Alpine meadows and carpets | 8 |
| Broadleaf woodland | 54 |
| Desert | 9 |
| Forest | 84 |
| Juniper | 37 |
| Marsh | 45 |
| Meadow-steppe | 58 |
| Semidesert | 39 |
| Steppe | 76 |
| Subalpine meadows | 53 |
Most populations of medicinal plants are found throughout Armenia within their respective natural ecosystems. They are generally abundant, and the current level of harvesting does not pose a threat of overexploitation. However, a number of species are rare and included in the Red Data Book of Plants of Armenia (Tamanyan et al., 2010) (Table 2).
Most of the species presented in our study are either not used at all today or are used in minimal quantities for personal household needs. Only a very small amount is sold in markets or on the streets of cities. Unfortunately, no research is currently being conducted in Armenia to assess the wild reserves of medicinal plants or the potential for their sustainable use.
Table 2. Medicinal plants included in the Red Data Book of Plants of Armenia
| Species | Category in the Red Book | Comments |
| Acorus calamus | Endangered (EN) | Grows only in Armavir and Ararat marzes |
| Atropa bella-donna | Vulnerable (VU) | |
| Calendula persica | Endangered (EN) | Grows only in Sjuniq marz |
| Cocciganthe flos-cuculi | Critically Endangered (CR) | Only one population is known in Lori marz |
| Cyclamen vernum | Vulnerable (VU) | Grows only in the North of Tavush marz |
| Halostachys belangeriana | Endangered (EN) | Has small area of occurence, grows on salt bodies (solonchaks) in Armavir and Ararat marzes |
| Menyanthes trifoliata | Vulnerable (VU) | Usually size of populations is very small |
| Nuphar lutea | Critically Endangered (CR) | Very rare species, only one population is known in the North of Shirak marz |
| Nymphaea alba | Endangered | Rare species, the main area if distribution lies in Lori marz |
| Paeonia tenuifolia | Critically Endangered (CR) | Very rare species, only one small population is known in Sjuniq marz |
| Potentilla erecta | Critically Endangered (CR) | Only a few small populations are known in the North of Armenia |
| Sphaerophysa salsula | Vulnerable (VU) | Rare species, only one population was known, but in the last years some new small populations were found in Ararat marz |
Figure 2. Map of the ES provided by natural vegetation, assessed by the total number of medicinal plant species
References
Fayvush G., Aleksanyan A. et al. Plant profiles. In: Bussmann R. (ed.) Ethnobotany of the Caucasus. Springer International Publishing AG 2017, Switzerland, p. 99-715. DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-49412-8
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Takhtajan, A. L. (Ed.). Flora of Armenia, 1954–2009, Vols. 1–11 (in Russian).
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Tsaturyan T, Gevorgyan M. Wild medicinal plants of Armenia. Yerevan; 2014 (in Armenian).
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