Ethnobotanically Significant Flora in Five Barangays of Las Navas, Northern Samar, Philippines

Ethnobotanical documentation can characterise local relationships between plants, livelihoods and cultural practices. This descriptive study recorded plant knowledge in Bulao, Mabini, Roxas, San Fernando and Taylor, five barangays of Las Navas, Northern Samar, Philippines. Fieldwork was undertaken from February to April 2023 using purposively selected informants, interviews and plant specimen collection. Seventy-five respondents (44 women and 31 men) participated. The inventory lists 74 species-level entries, 69 of which were recorded in all five barangays. Thirty-three vernacular food-use entries and 19 distinct vernacular designations associated with marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, childhood, adulthood, burial and agricultural rituals were documented. Reported environmental values ranged from 25 to 31 °C for air temperature and 26 to 29 °C for soil temperature, with soil pH recorded as 6.0 at every site; the rainfall values lacked an explicit observation interval. Residents also identified logging, land preparation and problems associated with abaca cultivation as possible pressures on useful plants. This purposive descriptive dataset provides a regional account of reported plant uses rather than evidence of medicinal efficacy, ecological optimality or causal change in vegetation. Botanical-use records and community knowledge may inform more comprehensive voucher-based surveys and locally appropriate conservation initiatives.