Data Services

Data are provided in two tiers. Open-tier datasets can be downloaded without registration under CC BY 4.0. Controlled-tier datasets contain traditional knowledge of ethnic communities or structured data extracted from books; they require signing in and an application approved by a data reviewer, after which they can be downloaded during the approval period. No dataset contains long verbatim passages from books.

All pages of this website can be browsed and searched without signing in. Each download package contains UTF-8 CSV files, a bilingual README (data dictionary, licence, citation and source list) and a SHA-256 checksum manifest.

Data overview Sources & citation Data use agreement & ethics API documentation

Checklist of useful plants with name reconciliation Open

All plant taxa with a Chinese name (58,872 records), reconciled against WCVP, the WFO Plant List and the Catalogue of Life China 2026, plus a synonym table.

Not included: Nothing excluded.

Files: species_names.csv, synonyms.csv · version 20261015 · 432,258 rows · 8.4 MB · SHA-256 87fd31348593…

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Bibliography of ethnobotanical literature Open

Bibliographic records of ethnobotanical papers (compiled from Web of Science exports) and their links to species.

Not included: Abstracts are excluded (copyright of the publishers).

Files: papers.csv, species_paper_links.csv · version 20261015 · 12,715 rows · 1.2 MB · SHA-256 be351581f219…

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Index of flora treatments Open

Index of where each species is treated in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, Flora of China, Flora Yunnanica, Flora of North America and Moss Flora of China.

Not included: The full treatment text is excluded; follow the source links to read it.

Files: flora_index.csv · version 20261015 · 134,065 rows · 3.4 MB · SHA-256 b0a2ff177480…

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Summary statistics and data dictionary Open

Record counts, dynasty distribution of formulas, ethnic group and use-category distribution of use records, and region/ethnic-group distribution of the Himalaya survey (aggregated data only).

Not included: Aggregated statistics only.

Files: record_counts.csv, formulas_by_dynasty.csv, use_records_by_category_and_source.csv, himalaya_survey_by_region.csv · version 20261015 · 391 rows · 8 KB · SHA-256 e2e81fa02ff7…

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Structured data of historical Chinese medicinal formulas Controlled

Structured records of pre-1911 formulas: name, composition, actions, indications, dynasty, year, original classical source and the modern compilation it was extracted from.

Not included: Usage, modifications, formula explanations and preparation texts are excluded.

Files: formulas.csv · version 20261015 · 81,353 rows · 9.4 MB · SHA-256 77bf9f9c5eed…

Formula ingredients and classification codes Controlled

Ingredients of each formula (with taste and meridian tropism) and the TKRC (Traditional Knowledge Resource Classification) and IPC codes assigned to each formula.

Not included: The drug-source description text is excluded.

Files: formula_ingredients.csv, formula_codes.csv · version 20261015 · 1,917,357 rows · 11.9 MB · SHA-256 14bd9cccc335…

Species–formula links Controlled

Links between species and the historical formulas containing drugs derived from them.

Not included: Nothing excluded.

Files: species_formula_links.csv · version 20261015 · 737,489 rows · 2.7 MB · SHA-256 84d5b103b69a…

Plant use records (ethnomedicine and materia medica) Controlled

Plant use records extracted from ethnic-medicine monographs, materia medica and the pharmacopoeia: drug name, local name, species, ethnic group, locality, part used, use category, short summary of actions and the source book.

Not included: Only the first summary sentence of the use text is kept; quotations, remarks and related information are excluded.

Files: plant_use_records.csv · version 20261015 · 43,922 rows · 2.0 MB · SHA-256 2995a84c302e…

Index of the Economic Flora of China Controlled

Category, names and page references of the ten economic categories in the Economic Flora of China.

Not included: Only categories, names and references are kept; morphology, habitat, properties, harvesting and use texts are excluded.

Files: economic_flora_index.csv · version 20261015 · 2,195 rows · 129 KB · SHA-256 b1b360212ae2…

Field survey of wild economic plants in the Himalaya–Hengduan region Controlled

Field records of wild economic plant use by 7 ethnic groups at 11 sites in Xizang and north-west Yunnan, with voucher numbers; also provided as a Darwin Core Archive.

Not included: Localities are given at survey-site (county) level only; no informant data are included (none were recorded).

Files: himalaya_survey.csv · version 20261015 · 1,424 rows · 162 KB · SHA-256 8099f22d6fce…

Folk knowledge records Controlled

Folk traditional-knowledge entries (name, ethnic group, locality, plant composition, use category, main use, method and source).

Not included: Nothing excluded.

Files: folk_knowledge.csv · version 20261015 · 10 rows · 14 KB · SHA-256 eec1262a3cfc…

Formula similarity Controlled

Two formula-similarity measures: the original Euclidean distance on coded features (top 25 per formula) and the Jaccard coefficient on ingredients (top 20 per formula).

Not included: Nothing excluded.

Files: similarity_euclidean.csv, similarity_jaccard.csv · version 20261015 · 3,600,712 rows · 23.5 MB · SHA-256 e7b391e694f3…

Please cite: Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Ethnobotany of China database. http://ethnobotany.cn/ (version 20261015; accessed 2026-10-15).