## 3 Results and Discussion
### Home Gardens as Sources for Medicines  
As a previous study in Lithuania on cultivated medicinal plants has shown, the primary function of home gardens is food cultivation, but all species grown there were used or consumed for medicinal purposes [12]. The study recorded 100 plant species grown for medicinal and/or nutritional purposes that belong to 36 plant families. The most common indications were gastrointestinal, respiratory diseases and also sex and urinary tract disorders (Figure 3). Similar results were also obtained in other studies in Lithuania [28; 29]. It has already been discussed that these are the most common indications, possibly due to the harsh climate of Lithuania and heavy and high-caloric food consumption. Analysis of the archival data showed that the main indications were diseases of the respiratory, digestive and circulatory systems. The largest difference was observed in the treatment of oncological diseases. In the study from 1948, oncological diseases were either unknown or less prevalent, whereas today it is a common indication (9%). Not surprisingly, as there are still many questions unanswered via science-based medicine, traditional medicine is often used to treat oncological diseases as well. Among plants used for the treatment or prevention of oncological diseases, research in Taurage District found plants that were not typically used by Lithuanians: oregano, rosemary, tomatoes, thyme, etc. Possibly, this knowledge was obtained through written sources and mass media. A comprehensive archival study conducted by researchers from neighbouring Latvia distinguished the use of plants for the treatment of digestive system disorders, respiratory system disorders and skin disorders. Only 59 out of 211 taxa mentioned in this study are included in the official herbal monographs of the European Medicines Agency [30]. The results of our study show that out of 100 currently used species in Taurage District and 76 plant species used for medicinal purposes in the 1948 archives, the official herbal monographs of the European Medicines Agency describe 37 (32%) and 10 species (30%), respectively (percentage in brackets shows an overlap of indications). Consequently, a large number of the species grown earlier/at present in home gardens were used without EMA approved medical indications and were based solely on folk knowledge and experience in medicine. A study in neighbouring Belarus, Liuban District, recorded 45 cultivated plant taxa belonging to 27 families. The best-represented families were Lamiaceae (six taxa), Rosaceae  
Figure 3: Indications for the use of medicinal herbal materials. (five taxa), Poaceae (four taxa), Solanaceae and Asteraceae (three taxa each) [13]. In our time, the most popular families (Lamiaceae--14, Rosaceae--12 and Asteraceae--11) were identified in Taurage District, and the archival analysis named the most popular families (Asteraceae--9, Brassicaceae--9 and Ranunculaceae--5). In Belarus, among the six most widely utilised taxa were two _Allium_ species (garlic (_A. sativum_ L.) and onion (_A. cepa_ L.)), household alone (_Aloe_ spp. ), potato (_Solanum tuberosum_ L.), aronia (_Aronia_ spp.) and cabbage (_Brassica oleracea_ L.) [13]. Ten of the most commonly used plants for medical purposes in the Taurage study were dandelion (_Taraxacum officinal_ L.), calendula (_Calendula officinalis_ L.), thymme (_Thymus vulgaris_ L.), raspberry (_Rubus idaeus_ L.), mint (_Mentlu piperita_ L.), blueberry (_Vaccinium myrtillus_ L.), wormwood (_Artemisia absinthium_ L.), chamomile (_Matricaria recutita_ L.) and lavender (_Lavandula angustifolia_ L.). Marigold, chamomile, raspberry, mint and wormwood were the most commonly grown plants, very typical of Lithuanian gardens. This was also shown in a previous study in which only _Tilia cordata_ was an exceptionally popular species [12]. [PERSON] wrote that in Samogitia, _Mentlu piperita_ in Samogitian, called Szaltmietrys, was grown in nobles' gardens, and _M.