Ethnobotanical study on Dragon Boat Festival Tea in Songyang County, East China

Background Herbal tea serves as an important carrier of global traditional medicine and folk health-preservation culture. As a classic festival-specific herbal tea in China, Songyang Dragon Boat Festival Tea boasts a long history and extensive applications, contains a variety of bioactive substances, and shows promising development prospects. Currently, research on Songyang Dragon Boat Festival Tea remains insufficient: its botanical records are incomplete, the utilization patterns of this herbal tea remain unclear, and no assessments of its resource sustainability have been carried out. In addition, it is confronted with common challenges including the intergenerational loss of traditional knowledge and heavy exploitation pressure on wild resources, which highlights the urgent need for systematic investigations. Therefore, this study aims to document and collate the plant sources of Dragon Boat Festival Tea in Songyang County, evaluate the consistency of their efficacy, analyze potential threats to resource conservation, and support the protection of relevant traditional knowledge. Methods Ethnobotanical field surveys were conducted across eight villages and one local market in Songyang County, with a total of 93 informants interviewed, whose traditional knowledge of medicinal plants was systematically recorded. For each documented plant species, we recorded its local vernacular name, plant origin, usable parts, preparation processes and administration routes. All recorded ailments were classified according to the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-3). Moreover, the Use Report (UR) count and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) were used for quantitative analysis of traditional medicinal knowledge associated with Dragon Boat Festival Tea plants, as well as their therapeutic efficacy for diseases affecting different bodily systems. Results The plant sources of Dragon Boat Festival Tea include 144 plant species belonging to 109 genera within 60 families, among which Asteraceae and Lamiaceae are the most species-rich families. Whole herbs represent the major plant part for tea preparation, and raw materials are generally processed through impurity removal, washing, drying and cutting. A total of 94 ailments treated with Dragon Boat Festival Tea were recorded by informants and further classified into 13 categories per the International Classification of Primary Care, Third Edition (ICPC-3), with digestive system diseases being the most frequently documented. Quantitative analyses based on the Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) and Use Report count (UR) showed that respiratory system disorders (ICF = 0.71, UR = 195) and digestive system disorders (ICF = 0.82, UR = 339) had the highest usage records among local residents. Lophatherum gracile , Lindera aggregata and Aster turbinatus were the most frequently utilized species in folk tea preparations. In line with China’s relevant national regulatory standards, seven species are defined as medicinal and edible homologous plants, while another five are listed as health food raw materials. Among the 144 documented species, 83 (57.64%) are recorded in China Red List of Biodiversity – Higher Plants (2020); these 83 taxa include 31 Chinese endemic species and one vulnerable (VU) species. Conclusion This study documented a total of 144 plant species that form the botanical sources of Songyang Dragon Boat Festival Tea, which well illustrates the rich plant resources and high biodiversity of the region. This research systematically characterized the botanical composition, medicinal efficacy and cultural connotations of this traditional herbal tea. Songyang Dragon Boat Festival Tea constitutes a vital part of grassroots folk healthcare in East China and a precious reservoir of regional biocultural diversity. At present, this traditional knowledge system suffers from gaps in intergenerational transmission and faces multiple conservation threats. Targeted conservation strategies are thus urgently required to support the sustainable inheritance of its intangible cultural heritage and the rational utilization of its medicinal plant resources.