research focused on the current status, distribution and the uses of wild relatives ofrnmonocotyledonous crops grown in Ethiopia. The data were collected in two phases. First, datarnwere gathered from literature and herbarium specimens and then field studies were undertakenrnto collect voucher specimens and ethnobotanical data by using purposive sampling techniquernand semi-structured interviews. The field study was conducted in six floristic regions of Ethiopiarn(Gamo Gofa, Gojam, Harerge, Kefa, Shewa and Sidamo). Then after, identification of thernvoucher specimens were made at the National Herbarium (ETH) of Addis Ababa Universityrnusing keys in the Flora volumes and authenticated specimens housed at ETH and confirmed byrnthe taxonomic experts. Data were entered in to Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, and thenrndescriptive statistics, informant consensus and ranking exercises were employed for the analysis.rnFrom the Flora and other literature sources 17 species of monocotyledonous crop wild relativesrnwere recorded but at the National Herbarium 16 species had voucher specimens. The fieldrnsurvey came up with seven (41.2%) species only, clearly showing the need for more field surveyrnand collection. Wild Colocasia esculenta and Sorghum arundinaceum are abundant in the fieldrnwhile the two wild yam species (Dioscorea bulbifera and Dioscorea praehensilis) have declinedrnthrough time as affirmed by informants and the finding of these species in the wild environmentrnis very limited. More species of monocotyledonous crop wild relatives were obtained from Kefarnfloristic region. Informant consensus analysis showed that Sorghum arundinaceum was cited byrn22 (48.89 %) informants followed by Dioscorea bulbifera and Dioscorea praehensilis 20rn(44.44%) and 18 (40.00%) respectively. Dioscorea praehensilis and Dioscorea bulbifera werernreported by informant as highly scarce. The main causes for the depletion of crop wild relativesrnaccording to the informants are agricultural expansion and over grazing which scored 21 and 18rnrespectively. The monocotyledonous crop wild relatives include species that are of high potentialrnin crop breeding and for enhance utilization by the community.rnKey words/phrases: Crop wild relatives, domestication, ethnobotany, monocotyledons, voucherrnspecimen.