Medicinal Shrubs and Trees from the Nara Desert, Pakistan

Abstract

Nara desert, a semi-arid to arid tract, is located in Sindh province, Pakistan. This fragile ecosystem supports human and livestock population by providing fuel, food, fodder, sheltering, ethnomedicine, etc. The people of the study area possessed empirical knowledge of medicinal plants due to unavailability of basic healthcare facilities. The aim of this investigation is to collect information about the medicinal uses of xerophytic flora, methods of preparation of herbal drugs, and part of plants used in various phytotherapies. The ethnobotanical survey of medicinal trees and shrubs was conducted from the Nara desert, Pakistan, during 1998–2001 and then 2004–2007. In all, 100 informants, including herbal practitioners (Hakeems), women, religious teachers (Pesh Imaam) and elders, were interviewed. In all, 52 indigenous trees and shrubs belonged to 44 genera and 27 families are being used for curing 49 diseases by the inhabitants of the study area. Among them, 17 species are reported to hold novel medicinal uses compared with medicinal literature. Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, and Solanaceae were leading families which jointly contributed 12 species, followed by Amaranthaceae, Boraginaceae, Capparidaceae, Moraceae, and Poaceae each having 3 species. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the detailed ethnopharmacological screening is the need of hours to establish the scientific ground for the reported novel use highlighted in this chapter.