The comparisons and analyses presented indicate that visual stimuli and the context of the situation in which the interviewees find themselves influence responses to a listing task about plants. This influence varies by locale of the research. To be included in the responses, the plants present in the environment have to be known and recognized as pertaining to the domain elicited. The analyses of the data collected reveal a more marked influence in the plant store compared to the other locations. In this case, the existing tendency toward cultural emphasis on ornamental plants in the study population is reinforced. Our results also suggest that there may be an indirect influence of the environment. The type of plant or products present can influence the type of plant recalled. Thus, edible plants were recalled more frequently in the supermarket, whereas flowers were remembered more often in the plant store. Thus, the type of plant present may trigger the memory of similar plants, by whatever characteristic—utility, general appearance, plant habit, and so on— acting as a “semantic cue.” A parallel can be drawn with the findings of Brewer (2002) and Brewer, Garrett, and Rinaldi (2002), who found that items elicited in free-listing tasks are very efficient semantic cues for later elicitation of similar items in successive listing tasks. Visual stimuli and the context of the interview show association with features of our listing tasks and thus appear to influence responses to those tasks. However, our data are not sufficient to establish the mechanism for this association. In the future, free lists rather than numerically constrained lists should be used, and research is needed to control the exposure of each interviewee to standardized visual stimuli. Listing tasks allow us to obtain a set of culturally relevant terms and are powerful tools for ethnobotanical research. Nevertheless, those who use these techniques must remain attentive to the environment in which interviews are conducted to minimize external influences.
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