Lippia javanica (Burm. f.) is a medicinal plant with multiple native uses in the treatment of colds, influenza, pneumonia, coughs, dermatitis, tuberculosis, asthma, and bronchial diseases. However, it remains underutilized in drug development. In this review, existing studies on the pharmacological activities of L. javanica, more specifically the antitumor, antiviral, and antibacterial properties as well as recent metabolites identified from the plant were appraised. Background information on the plant's ecological distribution, ethnobotanical importance, toxicity, and cytotoxicity activity was also provided. The information in the review was gathered from major scientific databases (Google scholar, BioMed Central, Scopus, PubMed, Springer, Web of Science, and Science Direct) using journals, conference proceedings, dissertations, books, and/or chapters. The review compiled 66 new metabolites from the plant while establishing the anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial, and other important pharmacological activities of the organic (most especially methanol and acetone) and aqueous extracts of various parts of the plant attributed to several secondary metabolites present in the volatile oil of the plant, which includes carvone, ipsdienone, limonene, linalool, myrcene, ocimenone, caryophyllene, piperitenone, sabinene, p-cymene, sabinene, myrcene, ipsenone, and tagetenone. While some of the metabolites of L. javanica have been linked through pharmacological studies to the various traditional uses of the plant, some others remain unexplored, emphasizing how underutilized the plant is in drug research and development. It is envisaged that the reports from this review will help to further encourage future research and guide further investigations into the pharmaceutical and medicinal uses of L. javanica.

Iturbide is located in the Northeast of Mexico, it has a rich native and exotic flora, however, there are no ethnobotanical records, therefore, it requires attention in the documentation of traditional practices and uses of its botanical resources. In 2021, twelve field trips were carried out, applying 110 semi-structured interviews. Plant samples were collected, identified and deposited in an herbarium. We used the Chi-square test to compare ethnobotanical uses with respect to others reported in Mexico. To determine the cultural importance, three ethnobotanical indices were applied (UVI, ICF and FL). We recorded 250 species with ethnobotanical uses associated with 121 genera and 83 families, including 140 native and 110 exotic species. The most common plant families were Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Fabaceae. The main uses were ornamental, medicinal and food. The species with the highest UVI values ​​were Lepidium peruvianum, Ocimum basilicum and Rosmarinus officinale. The multifunctionality of the native and exotic flora demonstrates the extensive knowledge associated with botanical resources. Examples, the role of ornamental plants, with a direct impact on human well-being, the resilience of healers and traditional inhabitants by using different species for the treatment of various ailments. or indigenous edible plants in the daily diet.

Although South Africa is well known for its incredible biodiversity, targeted efforts are still re-quired to accelerate the discovery and description of the still-unknown species in this floristically mega-diverse country. In addition, new species discovery is a new opportunity for the devel-opment of ethnobotanical knowledge. In the present study, we collected data on current knowledge of plant richness in the country and expert taxonomists’ opinions and used statistical modelling technique to predict what might still be missing in South Africa’s flora. According to experts’ opinions and our modelling, we might be missing 1400-1575 plant species in the country. We predicted that we might take 40-45 years to identify and describe these species and that be-tween 64 and 315 taxonomists will be required. The pool of taxonomists who took part in this study have spent a total of R 680 670 000 (US $40 039 411) to describe 419 species. This implies that, in theory, R 1 624 510.74 (US $95 559) was spent, on average, to describe 1 species. At this rate, R 2 558 604 415.00 (US $150 506 142) would be required to describe the 1575 (modelling) or R 2 274 315 036.00 (US $133 783 237) for the 1400 remaining species (expert opinion) in the current context where both full- and part-time taxonomists are committed to biodiversity assessment in the country. It is important to highlight that this estimate does not correspond to what is required specifically for only species description but does integrate all connected activities, e.g., running cost, bursary, salaries, grants, etc. Furthermore, we must bear in mind that these estimates do not account for the possibility of taxonomic revision which, on its own, needs to be funded, nor do they account for molecular laboratory requirement. However, if we consider that 15% of the predicted funds are spent solely on taxonomic activities, this means that we would need ~R243 673 (US$ 14 334) on 1 species. Overall, our study provides an important figure that can inform policy development including funding and recruitment strategies of taxonomists to fuel efforts towards a comprehensive assessment of the unique South Africa’s biodiversity. The implication of new species discovery is that it opens windows for traditional knowledge development.