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Churu district is forming a part of Great Indian Desert in the state of Rajasthan. This district is largely inhabited by rural and urban population including several tribes. The present study deals with ethnobotanical use of some desert plant species by various rural, tribal, and nomadic communities of Churu district. Some plant species have shown remarkable use for the treatment of the skin diseases, relieve headache, cooling effect, wound, body ache, cold etc. The present study reveals ethnomedicinal diversity, their identification and medicinal uses based on the knowledge collected from natives and traditional medicine. Based on present observation important plants, which were used as ethnomedicinal resources by local inhabitants such as stomach related diseases, rheumatism, asthma and many skin related diseases were reported in the study area.

The main objective of the present study is to find out the ethnomedicinal value of some important plants and capture ethnobotanical views of plants from local people. The present study will also be possible to suggest the means and measure to conserve the most threatened plant species of study area which are on the verge of extinction due to overgrazing human interference. 

India has rich floristic diversity on earth. There are about 45000 medicinal plant species in India. Indian medicinal plants are essence of Ayurveda and Ayurvedic treatment. The study area is rich in diverse vegetation and old villages of this area have a huge amount of traditional knowledge associated with use of medicinal plants for treatment of many diseases. The ethnobotanical work in organized way were started by Botanical Survey of India in 1969. Uses of plants by tribal are being recorded for a variety of purposes (Jain, 1981a). Sen (1991) reported that about one fourth of total plants of the Indian Thar desert are useful for the welfare of human being for food, fuel, fodder, medicine and other requirement. Unexploited plants of potential medicinal value from Indian Thar desert were studied by Mohammed et al. (2004). Ethnobotanical studies in Rajasthan have been carried out by Singh and Pandey (1998), Sharma and Khandelwal (2010) and Pareek and Trivedi (2011). An extensive survey of southern part of Rajasthan including Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Banswara and Udaipur districts was made to document the traditional knowledge of medicinal plant used by tribal communities (Meena and Yadav, 2010). Swarnkar et al. (2021) studied medicinal plants Kela Devi wildlife sanctuary of Rajasthan. Chandra and Unyal (2021) highlighted that dependency of remote villages on traditional remedies was higher than the village near road head. The study recommends agriculture diversification through medicine and aromatic plant cultivation to sustain the traditional health care system.

An ethno-botanical survey of the study area had been carried out for the collection of specimens. In order to trap the information frequent field trips were made in study area and different plant specimen were collected, dried, documented and identified both by comparing them with herbarium specimen of botany department, Government Dungar college, Bikaner and with the flora of Indian desert by Bhandari (1990), Singh and Shetty (1987-93) and flora of north east Rajasthan by Sharma and Tyagi (1979). Firsthand information on traditional knowledge related to plant resources and ethnobotanical information was recorded by the villagers and local elderly people with local use of the plant species, their local name and parts used were recorded through discussion.

The floral diversity of the area has importance in traditional system of medicine due to its multifarious uses among the rural tribes. Local people are well versed in the use of plants for curing many ailments. The interest of ethnobotanist includes a wide range of subjects like indigenous healing herbal medicine, plants used in religious rituals, food of plant origin etc. the source of information about plants in the past and in the present and their relationship with the human beings are major tools of study of ethnobotany. The ethnobotanical survey carried out in the area under study have revealed valuable information regarding the use of various herbal plants of Churu. Based on perusal of the enumeration,many herbal plants of Churu and their various parts have been found to be used for the treatment of various diseases by local inhabitants of this region. The observations emanating from the present survey need to be substantiated with pharmaco-chemical studies to evaluate their effectiveness. However, forsome species there is evidence in the literature that the mode of application being practiced by local people is likely to be effective. Therefore, it is necessary to popularize their identity and utility. The present study also indicates that the seasonal survey and collection of such plant species is quite useful for detecting medicinally important plants. Such type of study and data can help a lot in supporting in the matter of drugs and in protecting ayurvedic system of medicine. Considerable work has been done on several aspects of ethnomedicine drugs and narcotics by Bhandari (1974), Singh and Pandey (1982), Nargas and Trivedy (1989) and Katewa and Guria (1997). Katewa (2009) studied indigenous traditional medicine and observed that these plants have played important role in the discovery of novel products from plant as chemotherapeutic agents. Sharma and Khandelwal (2018) and Swami (2023) also observed that tribal and traditional communities used many plant species ethnomedicinally to treat various diseases like abdominal disorder, body pain, cough and cold, fever and many other diseases.

Table 1: Ethnomedicinal uses of Plants of Churu, Rajasthan

S. No	Botanical Name	Local Name	Family	Uses
1	Acacia senegal (Linn.) Willd	kumbat	Mimosaceae	Gum from tree forms gum Arabic. It exudes from stem. Seeds are valuable as vegetable.
2	Acacia nilotica          (Linn.) Del.	Babul	Mimosaceae	Gum is used as gum arabic. Pods and bark are used for tanning. Gum is used in native medicine. Bark and leaf paste used for healing wounds and cuts.
3	Achyranthes aspera Linn.	Undo-Kanto	Achyranthaceae	Whole plant used as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, crushed plants are boiled in water is taken against pneumonia.
4	Balanites aegyptiaca (Linn.) Delile	Hingoto	Simaroubaceae	Fruits contain brown greasy pulp, used as a remedy for skin diseases and cough.
5	Argemone mexicana Linn.	Satayanashi	Papaveraceae	The yellow juice is used in eye infection and rubbed on body relieves rheumatic pain. Oil from seeds is used externally for skin disease.
6	Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br.	Aak	Asclepiadaceae	All parts of plants are useful. Latex is applied locally against ring worm honeybee sting, in toothache, pimples, thorn injury and to relieve rheumatic pain.
7	Citrullus colocynthis (Linn.) Schard.	Indrayan/ Tumba	Cucurbitaceae	Fruit is used in indigenous medicine and as purgative, useful in stomach troubles.
8	Cleome viscosa Linn.	Bagro	Capparaceae	Entire plant is crushed and applied to cure inflammation, leaf juice is taken orally to cure fever and applied on wounds. Seeds are used to cure bleeding piles, scabies and leucoderma. Leaves are crushed in oil and rubbed for skin diseases
9	Eclipta alba (Linn.) Hassk.	Jal bhangro	Asteraceae	Whole plant is used as hair tonic. Leaf decoction used as purgative, diuretic, and leaf paste is applied externally for elephantiasis.
10	Boerhavia diffusa Linn.	Chinawari	Nyctaginaceae	Leaves are diuretic, useful in controlling blood sugar, effective in asthma, and beneficial for the treatment liver, abdomen, urinary tract etc.
11	Maytenus emarginatus Willd.	Kankero	Celastraceae	Fruits are used in medicine to purify blood. Leaves used for burnt and mixed with ghee used to heal sores.
12	Tribulus terristris Linn.	Kanti	Zygophyllaceae	Mucilaginous water extract of the plant is taken as remedy for impotency.
13	Azardirachta indica Linn.	Neem	Meliaceae	Whole plant used medicinally. Fruits edible, leaf, flower, bark, and stem is antioxidant, antifungal, antidiabetic, antibacterialand used for blood purification.
14	Adhatoda vasica Nees	Adusa	Acanthaceae	Leaves and flowers are used in bronchitis and asthma.
15	Salvadora persica Linn.	Jhal	Salvadoraceae	Bark and seeds are used in gastric trouble and skin infection. Tender twig is used as toothbrush. Seed oil is applied in rheumaticpain. Decoction of unripe fruits cure enlarge spleen and rheumatic fever.
16	Euphorbia hirta Linn.	Dudhi	Euphorbiaceae	Decoction of root is used for gargling to relieve thrush and mouth ulcers. Plant has antifungal and antibacterial property and used for relieving toothache, headache, and rheumatism. Urogenital diseases like kidney stones and menstrual problem are relieved using this plant.
17	Pedalium murex Linn.	Bada gokhru	Pedaliaceae	This plant used Ayurveda for treatment for inflammation, ulcers, fever, and wounds
18	Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Frosk.) Deene.	Khimp	Asclepiadaceae	The twigs of plant are macerated in water is taken as a diuretic to treat urine retention. A macerate of seeds is used as eye lotion. The sap is used to treat smallpox.
19	Tephrosia purpurea (Linn.) Pers.	Bansa	Fabaceae	Plant is used as antipyretic, it is used in treatment of leprosy, ulcers, asthma, and tumors, as well as diseases of liver, spleen and blood.
20	Withania somnifera (Linn.) Dunal.	Ashgandha	Solanaceae	General tonic and adaptogen helping the body adapt to stress, especially for geriatrics to promote strength vigor. It has antistress, sedative, diuretic, antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory action.

Ethnobotanical studies aid in elucidating the cultural position of the tribes that used the plants for food, shelter, medicine, and clothing. Ethnobotany is useful to explore new lines of harvesting the potential of plant kingdom in developing sustainable alternatives. Tribal medicine and conservationstrategy to protect and conserve the plant world for human survival in terms of alternative source of user and his environment friendly energy resources.Thus, the conservation of biodiversity of medicinal plants in the Indian desert is essential to maintain the most fragile ecological processes and life support system to ensure sustainable utilization of the species. Therefore, conservation of these plants should be viewed seriously and there is urgent need to embark on large scale cultivation of these ethnomedicinal plants of high socio-economicvalue through creation of herbal gardens in Rajasthanand in other parts of India. It can be concluded from the study that study area has highly specialized xerophytic vegetation and has great potential for cultivation of some ethnomedicinal plants. The result of the study will be helpful for conservation, sustainable utilization of plant resources and also management of semi-arid region.

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