Dataset, including a photo-guide, of alien plants sold in traditional medicine markets and healthcare outlets in three South African cities, specifically by traders of Indian, West African, East African, and Chinese origin

This dataset is a an inventory of 475 alien plant taxa (447 identified to species), including a photo-guide to 96 plants, mostly sold as traditional medicines in three South African cities by traders of South African, West African, East African, Indian and Chinese origin (Williams et al., 2021). The dataset also incorporates species documented in a literature survey of alien plants used for traditional medicines in South Africa. The species inventory is a consolidation of the data from two separate investigations of 106 medicinal plant traders: firstly, a study conducted in 2010/2011 of 77 traders in markets and shops in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban (Williams et al., 2021); and secondly, a study conducted in 2017/2018 of plants sold by 29 (im)migrant traders of West African, East African, and Indian origin in Johannesburg, and of alien species listed in a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) catalogue (Burness, 2019). Accompanying each plant photograph in the photo-guide is the following information: species name; common name(s) provided by the survey respondents; invasive alien plant category; introduction status; voucher specimen number(s); nationality of the medicine traders; and, notes on source localities (e.g. imported or collected in southern Africa). Overall, most of the taxa were from the Asteraceae (12%), Fabaceae (9%) and Poaceae (5%). The species are mostly unlisted (76%) with respect to their legal status in South Africa in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEM:BA), 2004 Alien & Invasive Species (A&IS) regulations. The most frequently recorded species in the various surveys were Glycyrrhiza glabra, Acorus calamus, Angelica sinensis and Zingiber officinale.

in the photo-guide is the following information: species name; common name(s) provided by the survey respondents; invasive alien plant category; introduction status; voucher specimen number(s); nationality of the medicine traders; and, notes on source localities (e.g. imported or collected in southern Africa). Overall, most of the taxa were from the Asteraceae (12%), Fabaceae (9%) and Poaceae (5%). The species are mostly unlisted (76%) with respect to their legal status in South Africa in terms of the National Environmental

Value of the Data
• The dataset records a consolidated list of 475 identified alien plant taxa (including photographs for 96) used as traditional medicines in South Africa (some of which are imported), and sold in a range of traditional medicine outlets. • The photographs and common names serve as a guide/reference library to assist researchers with identifying alien plants recorded in surveys of traditional medicine markets. • The data are relevant to researchers investigating traditional medicine use, urban migrant ethnobotany, and invasion biology. • This inventory will provide a basis for future legislation in relation to regulation of alien plant species control.

Data Description
The data are presented as: (i) photographs taken of alien plants sold in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban in 2010/2011, as well as of plants sold by West and East African and Indian immigrants in Johannesburg 2017/2018 ( Tables 1 and 2 , for identified and unidentified plants   Table 1 Photographic guide to identified alien plants sold for traditional medicine by traders in three South Africa cities. The key to the data in the tables underneath the photographs is in Fig. 1 . The same scale bar is used in each image. ( continued on next page )  ( continued on next page ) respectively); and (ii) a consolidated inventory of the alien plants used for traditional medicine (TM, or muthi ) in South Africa, some of which are imported from the home countries of the TM traders of West and East African, Indian and Chinese origin ( Table 3 ).
Regarding the photographic guide for 96 alien plants ( Tables 1 and 2 ): accompanying each photograph of the specimens is the following information: species name; common name(s) provided by the survey respondents; language of common name; voucher specimen numbers in the Moss Herbarium (J) of the University of the Witwatersrand; invasive alien plant category  [ 4 , 5 ]); nationality of the medicine traders; and, notes on source localities (e.g. imported or collected in southern Africa). A key explaining the photographic guide is given in Fig. 1 .
Regarding the species inventory for 475 alien plants ( Table 3 ) Table 3 ). In study A, the information originated from (i) a survey of traders in healthcare outlets/markets in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban in 2010/2011 (2011 market ); and (ii) a literature survey, where species are classified according to whether they were recorded as being sold in a market or not (respectively, market & in lit. and in lit. ) [1] . In study B, the information originated from (i) a survey of Indian, and West and East African traders in markets in Johannesburg in (2017 market) ; and (ii) from a catalogue of remedies sold in at least four TCM franchises in Johannesburg (2017 TCM-C.) [3] . The numbers of alien taxa per family for the consolidated data sets are shown in Fig. 2 . The number of taxa that were identified in each study and information type (e.g. A (2011 market) or B (2017 TCM-C)) are in Table 4 . Furthermore, the species that were documented in more than one study are listed next to the information source. Information on the species includes their legal and introduction status in South Africa (as per [ 4 , 8 ]), and the number of taxa in these categories is summarised in Tables 5 and 6 . Table 3 Inventory of 475 plant, fungi and algae taxa inventoried in traditional medicine outlets and markets in three South African cities, a TCM catalogue, and from the literature. The data are a consolidation of two studies conducted in 2010/2011 [ 1 ] and 2017/2018 [ 3 ]. Information source refers to the year of the study and the origin of the information, where: A = 2010/2011; B = 2017/2018; market = obtained from a survey of traders selling alien medicinal plants in markets or outlets such as shops in Johannesburg, Pretoria and/or Durban; in lit. = obtained from a literature survey of alien plants used in South Africa; market & in lit. = recorded in the literature as being sold in a market/outlet in South Africa; TCM-C = obtained from a catalogue of Traditional Chinese Medicine remedies sold in at least four franchises in Johannesburg. The legal invasive status (the species' status in terms of NEM:BA A&IS regulations, from [4][5][6] ), where: category 1a = invasive species that must be combatted or nationally eradicated; 1b = invasive species that must be controlled in accordance with a national management programme, and cannot be traded or otherwise allowed to spread; 2 = invasive species that are the same as category 1b species except that permits are required to carry out restricted activities (cultivation, ownership and trade), and they must be controlled in the absence of a permit. Persons in control of these species, or persons in possession of permits, must ensure that specimens of the species do not spread outside the areas specified on the permits; 3 = invasive species that are subject to exemptions and can be kept without permits, but they cannot be further traded or propagated and must be controlled. Species occurring in riparian zones must be treated as category 1b species and managed accordingly; unlisted = alien species that are not listed in the regulations, but that have been reported as present outside of captivity or cultivation in South Africa or on offshore islands. Introduction status in South Africa (from [ 7 , 8 ]), where: A0 = never introduced beyond limits of indigenous range to South Africa; C0 = individuals released outside of captivity or cultivation in location where introduced, but incapable of surviving for a significant period; C2 = individuals surviving outside of captivity or cultivation in location where introduced, but population not self-sustaining; D1 = self-sustaining population outside of captivity or cultivation, with individuals surviving a significant distance from the original point of introduction; E = fully invasive species, with individuals dispersing, surviving and reproducing at multiple sites across a greater or less spectrum of habitats and extent of occurrence; introduced = introduced, but no other data available. Outlet and/or TCM catalogue frequency indicates the numbers of records for species that were sold in different traditional medicine outlets, and/or recorded in the TCM catalogue.    Anredera cordifolia (Ten.) Steenis Basellaceae Hoffm. Apiaceae ( continued on next page ) Cactaceae      ( continued on next page )  ( continued on next page ) ( continued on next page )   Table 4 Combined

Table 5
Number and percentage of alien plant species assigned a legal status category (according to NEM:BA A&IS regulations), where: category 1a = invasive species that are targets for national eradication; 1b = invasive species that must be controlled; 2 = invasive species where cultivation, ownership and trade are allowed subject to the issuing of a permit, and that must be controlled in the absence of a permit; 3 = invasive species that are subject to exemptions, but that cannot be further traded or propagated, and otherwise must be controlled; unlisted = alien species that are not listed in the regulations, but that have been reported as present outside of captivity or cultivation in South Africa or on offshore islands.  Table 6 Number and percentage of species assigned an Introduction status category in South Africa, where: A0 = never introduced beyond limits of indigenous range to South Africa; C0 = individuals released outside of captivity or cultivation in location where introduced, but incapable of surviving for a significant period; C2 = individuals surviving outside of captivity or cultivation in location where introduced, but population not self-sustaining; D1 = self-sustaining population outside of captivity or cultivation, with individuals surviving a significant distance from the original point of introduction; E = fully invasive species, with individuals dispersing, surviving and reproducing at multiple sites across a greater or less spectrum of habitats and extent of occurrence; introduced = introduced, but no other data available;

Experimental Design, Materials and Methods
Two semi-quantitative surveys of alien plant taxa were conducted. First, a survey of plants sold in the Faraday (Johannesburg) and Warwick (Durban) umuthi markets (n = 32 and 28 traders respectively) was conducted from October 2010 and February 2011 [ 1 , 2 ]. In addition, 17 umuthi shops were visited in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban; 10 of these shops were owned by the descendants of Indian indentured labourers brought to South Africa from 1860 to work in the sugarcane plantations. Specimens were purchased during the survey visits and deposited as vouchers at the C.E. Moss Herbarium (J) at University of the Witwatersrand. The qualitative information recorded during the survey included: the vernacular name of the plant specimen, the botanical name of the plant (if known), the plant part type (e.g. seeds, tubers, bulbs, etc.), the means by which the plant was acquired (i.e. harvested or bought), and the geographic origin (Questionnaire in Appendix 1a). While specimens that could potentially regrow or germinate were tested for viability (e.g. seeds and tubers) [9] , voucher specimens were not collected of the plants once they had emerged, flowered, or grown out sufficiently. Photographs of the voucher specimens were taken retrospectively in 2019.
Second, a survey of plants sold by immigrants and migrants from West and East Africa ( n = 25), India ( n = 4), and China ( n = 1), who arrived in South Africa after 1994, was conducted from November 2017 to April 2018 [3] . Specimens were purchased during the survey visits and deposited as vouchers at the C.E. Moss Herbarium (J) -however, the Chinese trader would not permit specimens to be purchased and consequently no photographic data on Chinese plants used in South Africa are included in the photographic guide. However, this part of the survey was based on plants listed in a catalogue that are allegedly imported from China [3] . The qualitative information recorded during the 2017/2018 survey included: the vernacular name of the plant specimen, the botanical name of the plant (if known), the plant part type (e.g. seeds, tubers, bulbs, etc.), the means by which the plant was acquired (i.e. harvested or bought), and the country of origin (Questionnaire in Appendix 1b). Specimens that could potentially regrow were tested for viability, and to identify them; voucher specimens were collected from these plants once they had emerged, flowered, or grown out sufficiently [3] .
Plants are arranged alphabetically in the photo-guide according to genus and species ( Tables 1 and 3 ), and unidentified plants for which photos were taken are in Table 2 . Under every photograph is a table of information for the taxon obtained from the qualitative surveys, to which codes for the invasive alien plant category, and introduction status [ 4 , 8 ], were added. The numbers of traders from each nationality selling each species are also included. The online database Plants of the World Online [10] was used to cross-reference scientific names to find the currently accepted synonyms and plant families. The species in Table 3 were also checked