Diversity and distribution of endemic angiosperms in gujarat

Abstract

Endemic plants represent a small but important part of the flora of Gujarat; still they have not been assessed for their status till date. The present estimate is first of its kind that encompasses all Indian endemics found in Gujarat state that is based on literature review and field surveys. The present findings revealed documentation of 192 Indian endemics, with dicotyledons dominating the endemic flora with 137 taxa (71%) belonging to 97 genera under 33 families, whereas monocotyledons represented by 55 taxa (29%) belonging to 37 genera under 9 families. There are seven species which are exclusively endemic to Gujarat state that are Helichrysum cutchicum, Ischaemum sayajiraoi, Rorippa cochlearioides, Solanum purpureilineatum, Spodiopogon aristatus, Tamarix kutchensis and Tephrosia jamnagarensis. Top five families contribute 57% of the total Indian endemics reported from Gujarat; Fabaceae has the largest number (31), which is followed by Poaceae (27), Acanthaceae (20), Asteraceae (12) and Orchidaceae (10). An analysis of the life-form types shows that endemic herbs (66%) dominate the study area, followed by shrubs (12%), trees (11%), climbers (6%), undershrubs (3%) and climbing shrubs (2%). Analysis on the district-wise distribution of Indian endemics shows that the Dangs has maximum number of Indian endemics with 115 taxa, followed by Valsad (104), Narmada (71), Junagadh (63) and Panchmahal (57). In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that endemics are mostly concerted in southern Gujarat region; they are primarily herbaceous; while some of them are known with just a few additional collections.