o:8771 Traditional medicinal use of Juniperus communis in the Pirot District (Serbia) Традиционална лековита употреба врсте Juniperus communis у Пиротском округу (Србија) en sr Abstract: Juniper – Juniperus communis L. (fam. Cupressaceae), coniferous shrubby or woody plant species, is widespread at mountain thermophilus forests, and dry hillsides of Stara planina Mt, Suva planina Mt, and Vidlič Mt in the Pirot District. Thе study aimed to collect and analyze the knowledge about traditional use of plant species J. communis in Pirot District, and to compare the results with previous ethnobotanical studies in neighboring regions. A total of 631 informants were surveyed on the knowledge and medicinal use of plants in the four municipalities of the Pirot District: Pirot, Babušnica, Bela Palanka, and Dimitrovgrad. The results are summarized as a table, which provides information for preparation form, the way of administration, and the number of interviewees reporting it. A total of 4817 reports on medicinal uses of plants were recorded, of which 8 reports (0.17%) were mentioned about the traditional medicinal use of J. communis, of which 7 were reported from men, and one from women. All of the respondents were of Serbian nationality. In the municipality, Dimitrovgrad, the use of J. communis was not mentioned. The age of respondents who mentioned the use of J. communis for medicinal purposes was 50 to 70. Regarding the mode of administration, all mentioned uses were internally. Folk name of J. communis mentioned in Pirot District was "kleka". The juniper macrostrobilus were most often used in the form of an alcoholic extract (6 reports), and less often in the form of decoction (2 reports). Two reports were about internal use of juniper for the treatment of allergy in the form of decoction. The other respondents gave one report each the following internal uses of J. communis berries in the form of alcoholic extract: high blood pressure, digestion, thyroid diseases, improving immunity, kidney and bladder diseases, and urination. The uses of J. communis in the treatment of allergy in the form of decoction, as well as for the treatment of high blood pressure, and thyroid diseases in the form of alcoholic extract were not reported in previously conducted ethnobotanical investigations in neighboring areas in Serbia and the Balkan Peninsula, so these uses can be considered the novelties of the present study. The protection of the populations of J. communis in the Pirot District should be taken into consideration, because it is on the list of protected species in the Republic of Serbia. Keywords: traditional use, Pirot District, Juniperus communis 1552100 978-86-903786-2-3 2025-12-21T17:04:55.295Z 44 yes 46 Marija S. Marković 0000-0002-6070-6844 46 Dejan S. Pljevljakušić 46 Biljana M. Nikolić 0000-0002-2436-8294 46 Ljubinko B. Rakonjac 0000-0002-8736-6771 46 Bojan K. Zlatković 46 Branko N. Jotić 46 Vesna P. Stankov Jovanović application/pdf 3973874 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:8771 no yes 16 70 92000004 2025 71A07 Ethnobotany : book of abstracts / Third conference about medicinal and wild-growing edible plants, Pirot, Serbia, June 26 - 28. 2025. 14 16 Истраживачко друштво "Бабин нос", Темска, Пирот, Институт за шумарство, Београд, Штампарија "Свен", Ниш 2025