The importance of chemosensory clues in Aguaruna tree classification and identification.

Background The ethnobotanical literature still contains few detailed descriptions of the sensory criteria people use for judging membership in taxonomic categories. Olfactory criteria in particular have been explored very little. This paper will describe the importance of odor for woody plant taxonomy and identification among the Aguaruna Jivaro of the northern Peruvian Amazon, focusing on the Aguaruna category numi(trees excluding palms). Aguaruna informants almost always place trees that they consider to have a similar odor together as kumpaji– 'companions,' a metaphor they use to describe trees that they consider to be related.