Awareness about the plants as the sources of medicine dates back to many centuries ago (Stojanoski, 1999; Namsa et al., 2011). Since the ancient time, man has used plants to cure his illnesses or the animal’s disease. Nowadays, the use of medicinal plants has been considerably increased in the world due to their low cost, availability, and effectiveness (WHO, 2007).

Ethnobotany is regarded as the study of relationship between plants and humans. This study involved different fields such as environmental history, cultural and political ecology, anthropology, geography and environmental ethics, which can be linked to taxonomy, ecology, nutrition, palynology, conservation biology and pharmacognosy (Nolan & Turner, 2011). In addition, ethnobotanical studies are not restricted to distant places or diverse cultures when people have some information about the plants. This information contains the use of plants as food, medicine, shade, fiber, dye, detergent material, fuel and ornaments. Most of the studies related to ethnobotany require fieldwork and collaborating with local inhabitants (Nolan & Turner, 2011).

Further, the documentation of ethnobotanical information related to local people and folk healers can save these traditions from extinction and help protect natural habitats if the community is informed about the results of ethnobotanical studies, as well as the habitat condition (Khoshbakht & Hammer, 2006).

Iran includes a rich plant resource with approximately 8000 species, among which about 875 species are known as medicinal herbs (Eftekhari & Ramezani, 2004). The plants have been used in different varieties by people, among which some such as peppermint (Mentha ×piperita L.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) are commonly used as home remedies while some are prescribed and sold by traditional healers (Mozaffarian, 2015).

The residents in different parts of Iran are using various plants for their treatment and pain relief. In this regard, different ethnobotanical studies were conducted in some parts of the country or on special diseases although some parts have not been studied yet due to the vast area (Zargari, 1989–1992; Ghorbani, 2005; Mirdeilami et al., 2011; Mosaddegh et al., 2012; Amiri & Joharchi, 2013; Safa et al., 2013; Azizi & Keshavarzi, 2015).

In addition, few ethnobotanical studies have been done in spite of the diversity of medicinal herbs and the extent of Isfahan province (Sajadi & Ghanbari, 2011; Abbasi et al., 2012; Mardani-nejad & Vazirpour, 2012). Thus, the present study aimed to collect ethnobotanical information in Golpayegan county and Shahin Shahr and Meymeh county to enhance the related information about the useful plants of those areas.

An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in Isfahan province with the elevation range between 1700 to 2300 m, 28 °C mean annual temperature, and 300 mm annual rainfall. Isfahan province is situated in the central part of Iran with a population of 5.121 million, based on the 2016 census. This province is a part of Irano-Turanian phytogeographic region, which is located between the Zagros mountain range and the Kavir desert, which involves 107,029 km² areas with an average elevation of 1600 m. The Zagros mountain chain resides in the western borders of the province. Dalankuh, Darrabid, and Karkas are considered as the major mountains of Isfahan province with the highest peak of 3915 m above the sea level. The Karkas range divides the province into two distinct topographic and climatic areas including the more temperate western and the arid eastern regions. The ethnobotanical information was collected from five villages selected randomly. The villages were located in the north of Golpayegan county and west of Shahin Shahr and Meymeh county (Fig. 1 and Table 1).

Shahin Shahr and Meymeh county have an arid-cold climate with the annual rainfall of 160.5 mm. The typical vegetation of this area includes Artemisia sieberi Besser, Acantholimon scorpius (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss., Astragalus verus Olivier, Stipa hohenackeriana Trin. & Rupr., Zygophyllum atriplicoides Fisch. & C. A. Mey., Atriplex verrucifera M. Bieb., Halocnemum strobilaceum (Pall.) M. Bieb., Stachys inflata Benth., Peganum harmala L., Hertia angustifolia (DC.) Kuntze and Scariola orientalis (Boiss.) Soják. Furthermore, Amygdalus scoparia Spach is found in some high altitudes (Feizi et al., 2017).

Golpayegan has a moderate semi-arid climate and 263.2 mm annual rainfall with the typical vegetation of Artemisia aucheri Boiss., Artemisia sieberi Besser, Astragalus verus Olivier, Astragalus gossypinus Fisch., Stipa hohenackeriana Trin. & Rupr. and Cousinia cylindracea Boiss. (Feizi et al., 2017).

Different ethnic groups are living in different parts of Iran like Kurds, Turkmens, Lurs, etc. although the inhabitants in these villages are not related to any definite ethnic group. Some immigrated from Khorasan province during 18th century and they are residing in those villages now (Savina, 1980). They speak Persian language although there are some local accents. Further, most of the inhabitants are farmers and stockholders.

In order to collect the related information, traditional healers and knowledgeable people known by local communities were interviewed. Snowball sampling technique was used for selecting the participants (Albuquerque et al., 2014). Totally, 27 inhabitants (female = 17; male = 10), aged 33–95 years, were selected. As the people in Tikan and Saidabad villages spoke Persian with Golpayegani accent, two local people accompanied us as native translators during the interviews. Prior to the interview, all of the participants were invited to take part in the project and were informed about the objective so they took part in the interview with satisfaction.

As some were uneducated, the questionnaires were filled by the researchers. The questionnaire included some information related to age, gender, degree of education, local plant names, the plant parts used, uses/ailments treated (Appendix). Each participant was interviewed only once.

In order to identify the plants referred by the participants, they were asked to accompany the researchers to show the plants. However, they were asked to give the address of the mentioned plants when it was impossible due to the distance or old age. Field study and plant collection were done in the spring, summer and autumn in order to assign the exact scientific name of plants during 2016–2017. Further, the plant specimens were determined by using Flora Iranica (Rechinger, 1965–2008) and Flora of Iran (Assadi, 1988–2010). Voucher specimens were deposited in the herbarium of Alzahra University (ALUH).

The ethnobotanical data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2013 software. Table 2 indicates the complete information on the useful plants in the studied areas. Family, scientific name, vernacular name (in Persian language with Golpayegani accent), parts of the plants used, preparation and medicinal effects or edible use were explained.

The number of the uses reported for each plant (NU) were calculated and the frequency of citation (FC) was divided by the total number of informants (N) to provide the relative frequency consensus (RFC, Tardío & Pardo-de-Santayana, 2008); RFC = 1 shows that all participants mentioned the plant as useful.

General results

In the present study, 48 plants, which were traditionally used (i.e. it is used since ancient times), were recorded (Table 2). Asteraceae and Lamiaceae (36% and 23%, respectively) were considered as the most used families followed by Apiaceae and Fabaceae while other families were less used (9%) (Fig. 2).

The most used parts of these plants were leaf (45.83%), seed (18.75%), and aerial parts (12.50%). Further, other parts of plants were used by the locals less than 10% (3).

All informants mentioned Tripleurospermum disciforme (C. A. Mey.) Sch. Bip., Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex Prantl, Astragalus gossypinus, Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl, Hordeum vulgare L. and Peganum harmala, which indicated the highest value of RFC while the lowest value of same index was reported for Juglans regia L., Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. and Diarthron lessertii (Wikstr.) Kit Tan.

Medicinal plants

In the studied area, the plants were mostly used by the locals for digestive system problems (25%, 12 plants), sore throat (12.5%, 6 plants), and temperature regulator (10.41%, 5 plants).

Tripleurospermum disciforme, Descurainia sophia, Astragalus gossypinus, Stachys lavandulifolia, and Peganum harmala were considered as the most popular medicinal plants known by the locals.

Tripleurospermum disciforme has flavonoids, terpenoids and tannins, which claimed to have antibacterial activities and are effective on gastric ulcer (Minaiyan et al., 2006; Chehregani et al., 2010; Mandegary et al., 2014).

Aerial parts of Descurainia sophia have different kinds of amino acids, fatty acids and hydrocarbons (Khan & Wang, 2012). Further, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and analgesic activities were recorded for this plant (Nimrouzi & Zarshenas, 2016).

Astragalus gossypinus has flavonoids and polysaccharides (Asgari Nematian et al., 2008; Alijani et al., 2011). The roots of different species in Astragalus were used to treat nephritis, diabetes, and some kinds of cancers (Asgari Nematian et al., 2008).

Stachys lavandulifolia consist of various phenolic compounds and essential oils (Ghasemi Pirbalouti & Mohammadi, 2013; Rahimi Khoigani et al., 2017), which claimed to have antibacterial activities and can be effective in primary dysmenorrheal and gastric disorders (Nabavizadeh et al., 2011; Fooladvand & Fazeli-nasab, 2014).

The seeds in Peganum harmala are rich in alkaloids such as harmine, harmaline and harmalol both quantitatively and qualitatively so that they can have remarkably antifungal and antibacterial activities (Zargari, 1989–1992; Benbott et al., 2013; Behidj-Benyounes et al., 2014).

Edible plants

Some plants were used in local cuisines although most of the cited plants were used medicinally. Further, leaves of Falcaria vulgaris Bernh., Lepidium draba L. and Silene conoidea L. and young bark of Eryngium bungei Boiss. were used in local foods.

Locals consume some plants like Crepis sancta (L.) Bornm., Lactuca undulata Ledeb., Tragopogon graminifolius DC., Alhagi persarum Boiss & Buhse and Papaver bornmuelleri Fedde as temperature regulators, since the areas under study have hot summer.

Other uses

As for non-medicinal and non-food uses, the seeds of Rubia tinctorum L. have been used in painting carpet yams and textures from ancient times in the studied areas. After decocting the seeds, the solution was liquidized and the yams or textures were boiled within solution until they colored red. Eremurus persicus (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss. has been extensively used for non-medicinal purpose. The juice of fresh root was extracted and used as glue. Leaf of Juglans regia is used as cockroach killer liquid in toilet. Then, the solution was liquidized and poured on toilet well after decocting the leaves and making a thick liquid. Stems of Zygophyllum atriplicoides were burnt as fuel in an outdoor fireplace and its smoke was gathered, dried and used as kohl.

Plants with side effects

Long time application of Tripleurospermum disciforme may cause constipation. High consumption of Gundelia tournefortii can lead to diarrhea. Women do not use Cichorium intybus L., Tripleurospermum disciforme and Pimpinella anisum L. during pregnancy because of possible danger of these plants for their fetuses.

Limitation of the study

In the present study, only 48 plants were reported as most of interviewees were too old and they could not remember all the useful plants used with details; although there were some other plants, the names of which were disregarded. In addition, some old inhabitants who were well-informed, refused to participate the survey, which is regarded as a serious problem leading to the disappearance of valuable information as it was explained by some authors in other parts of Iran (Ghorbani, 2005; Mosaddegh et al., 2012). Finally, some traditional medicines made by traditional healers from local plants were considered as a source of income. Therefore, they failed to provide accessibility to the secret formulas of these kinds of mixture.

In the present paper, the first ethnobotanical survey of Golpayegan, and Shahin Shahr and Meymeh counties was reported. Asteraceae and Lamiaceae are regarded as the families mostly used by locals. The results were in consistent with those in the previous studies from Isfahan province and other parts of the country (Ghorbani, 2005; Abbasi et al., 2012; Mosaddegh et al., 2012). Further, leaf, seed, and aerial parts are the most commonly used parts in studied areas, which were in line with the studies on west and north-western Iran (Miraldi et al., 2001; Mosaddegh et al., 2012). Based on the results, medicinal plants were the category with the greatest number of uses and plants for digestive disorders were the most reported in this category. Similar results were obtained in other parts of Iran (Miraldi et al., 2001; Ghorbani, 2005; Mosaddegh et al., 2012).

Nowadays, the migration of locals to nearby cities has increased due to the climate change in recent decades and more droughts. Most of the young locals are living in urban areas, which results in destroying the chain of ethnobotanical data transition from traditional healers to youngers. It seems that some of the valuable information is being disappeared as it is the case in the area under study (Mirdeilami et al., 2011; Moein et al., 2015).