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Pak. J. Bot., 48(3): 1013-1026, 2016.

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FLORISTIC COMPOSITION AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANTS OF CHAIL VALLEY, DISTRICT SWAT, PAKISTAN

ASGHAR ALI^1*, LAL BADSHAH², FARRUKH HUSSAIN³ AND ZABTA KHAN SHINWARI⁴

Abstract: The present study was carried out during 2012-2014 to enumerate the floristic and ecological characteristics of plants of Chail Valley, District Swat. A total of 463 species belonging to 104 families were recorded. Leading families were Asteraceae (42 Spp), Poaceae (35 Spp), Rosaceae and Lamiaceae (each with 26 Spp), Papilionaceae (25 Spp), Brassicaceae and Boraginaceae (each with 16 Spp), Apiaceae (14 Spp), Solanaceae (13 Species) and Ranunculaceae (12 Spp). Each of the remaining families had less than 12 species. Therophytes with 188 species, 40.60% were dominant. They were followed by hemicryptophytes (77 species, 16.63%). Cuscuta europaea L., C. reflexa Roxb. and Viscum album L. were the three shoot parasites. The leaf spectra was dominated by mesophylls (147 Spp; 31.75%), microphylls (140 Spp.; 30.24%) and nanophylls (136 Spp.; 29.37%). Two species were aphyllous. Majority of the species (305 Spp., 65.87%) had simple lamina. Eight species (1.73%) had spiny leaves.

Key words: Floristic diversity, Ecological characteristics, Chail valley, District Swat, Pakistan
 

¹Dr Khan Shaheed Govt. Degree College Kabal Swat, Pakistan

²Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Pakistan

³Department of Microbiology, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan

⁴Department of Biotechnology, Quaid e Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

^*Correspondingauthor e-mail: asghartk@gmail.com