Throughout the ages, humans have used plants to treat different physical and mental diseases, without knowing their chemical composition or their pharmacological effect. This know-how based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences is inherited from one generation to another whether explicable or not, especially in developing countries. Their therapeutic effects encourage people to use medicinal and aromatic plants, to heal themselves, maintain their beauty, to flavor, and even preserve themselves against several illnesses. Morocco, by its geographical position and climate conditions, has a rich and varied flora, made up of more than 4,200 species of plants, including 500 to 600 species that are used in herbal therapy (Rejdali, 1996; Fennane, 2004). Genito-urinary diseases are one of the several illnesses which are treated by medicinal plants, due to the side effects and severe harmful effects of chemical drugs. Moreover, Plant-derived medicines have played a pivotal role in kidney stone diseases (Nagpal and Sharma, 2020), they are commonly used for the treatment of kidney stones (calcium oxalate, uric acid, struvite, and cysteine) (Amarasiri et al., 2020). The chemical compounds present in herbal medicines evolved to protect the plant from pathogenic microorganisms and therefore could prevent or treat infections in animals. Many of these compounds are excreted so that they are specifically useful as urinary antiseptic agents (Sedigheh et al., 2021).

Several ethnobotanical studies, aiming at therapeutics, cosmetics, the treatment of diseases of the digestive system, the treatment of diabetes, and cardiac and renal diseases, have been conducted in various regions of Morocco by various authors (El-Akhal et al., 2021). In the Fes-Meknes region, a recent ethnobotanical study showed that this area of Morocco has a diverse flora rich in medicinal plants, enabling the local population to maintain the phytotherapy traditionally practiced in the area (Sara Tlemcani et al., 2023). The medicinal plants identified during an ethnopharmacological study among the population of Tan-Tan province are divided into 29 families and 50 species used in the treatment of renal lithiasis (Ammor et al, 2020). Another study carried out in the Moroccan Rif revealed a total of 27 medicinal and aromatic plants belonging to 18 botanical families used to treat genitourinary diseases (Chaachouay and Zidane, 2020).

In light of these studies, an ethnopharmacological survey was conducted in the province of Fez, to assess the traditional knowledge and practices of medicinal and aromatic plants to treat genito-urinary diseases by the local population, and to document new species that are reported as medicinal plants and new traditional utilizations. Our research is one of the few research studies according to the utilization of medicinal and aromatic plants in the treatment of genito-urinary diseases in this province.