A Contribution to the Flora of Rajouri and Poonch Districts in the Pir Panjal Himalaya ( Jammu & Kashmir ) , India

The current paper provides a taxonomic inventory of the vascular plant species collected by the authors during the last two decades from the Rajouri and Poonch districts, located along the Pir Panjal range in the Indian Himalayan State of Jammu and Kashmir. The inventory records a total of 352 species, which belong to 270 genera in 83 families. Of the total taxa, the angiosperms are represented by 331 species in 253 genera and 77 families; gymnosperms by 12 species in 9 genera and 3 families; and pteridophytes by 9 species in 7 genera and 3 families. Asteraceae is the largest family, contributing 42 species; while Artemisia is the largest genus, with 5 species. The inventory is expected to provide baseline scientific data for further studies on plant diversity in these two border districts, and can be used to facilitate the long-term conservation and sustainable use of plant resources in this Himalayan region.


Introduction
Of the various environmental problems faced in modern times, the loss of biodiversity is the most serious one.The unprecedented rate of species extinction, mainly driven by unbridled human activities, is fraught with grave economic and ecological consequences.The global diversity of biota on the planet Earth is, however, so vast that only 1.7 % of it is scientifically known (Dar and Farooq 1997); this poses problems in assessing the taxa that are lost.Given such a perilous state of affairs, taxonomic inventory of biodiversity has gained much urgency worldwide.The situation is particularly pronounced in the developing world, which coincidentally harbors the richest but the most threatened biodiversity (Khuroo et al. 2008).
In the Himalaya, recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot (Mittermeier et al. 2005), crucial taxonomic information about many of its regions is still not available.The Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) in the Western Himalaya is one such region which has been recognized as floristically under-explored by the Botanical Survey of India (Dar et al. 2012).Biogeographically, J & K State comprises three distinct provinces: the subtropical Jammu, the predominantly temperate Kashmir, and the cold-arid Ladakh.Owing to great variety of habitats all along these provinces, the State is very rich in floristic diversity.Its flora has attracted the attention of many foreign and local botanists since the last about two centuries.Many of its plants are cited in the illustrious works of Hooker (1872-97) and Stewart (1972).
In J & K State, Jammu province possesses the greatest floristic richness.Several taxonomic studies dealing with floristic diversity of this province have been carried out over the last three decades.Sharma and Kachroo (1981-82) published the Flora of Jammu and adjacent areas, providing taxonomic details in Vol. 1 and illustrations in Vol. 2. Kapur and Sarin (1990) dealt with the flora of

Abstract:
The current paper provides a taxonomic inventory of the vascular plant species collected by the authors during the last two decades from the Rajouri and Poonch districts, located along the Pir Panjal range in the Indian Himalayan State of Jammu and Kashmir.The inventory records a total of 352 species, which belong to 270 genera in 83 families.Of the total taxa, the angiosperms are represented by 331 species in 253 genera and 77 families; gymnosperms by 12 species in 9 genera and 3 families; and pteridophytes by 9 species in 7 genera and 3 families.Asteraceae is the largest family, contributing 42 species; while Artemisia is the largest genus, with 5 species.The inventory is expected to provide baseline scientific data for further studies on plant diversity in these two border districts, and can be used to facilitate the long-term conservation and sustainable use of plant resources in this Himalayan region.
Gh. Hassan Dar1* , Akhtar H. Malik 2 and Anzar A. which forests are spread over 951 km 2 (56.81 %).Both these districts are strongly undulated to mountainous, with most of the population (about 96 %) living in isolated villages (Anonymous, 2012).The topography is varied with peculiar physical features; most of the cultivated land exisiting in upland areas, with maize being the staple food of people in the area.The climate in both these districts is broadly subtropical, although the foothill areas along the Pir Panjal range show dry temperate conditions, while subalpine and alpine conditions prevail higher up in the mountains.
The vegetation usually comprises Chir-pine (Pinus roxburghii) forests, broad-leaved deciduous forests, broadleaved evergreen forests, scrub forests, interspersed with frequent grassland patches and agricultural croplands.The Pir Panjal mountain range, generally with steep slopes and gradual ascendance in altitude, exhibits a climatic gradient from temperate through subalpine to alpine in the uppermost reaches.Commensurate with these wide climatic conditions, the flora of the region depicts rich diversity.

Taxonomic identification
The present paper is the result of detailed field studies made during the floristic surveys conducted in the Rajouri-Poonch districts from 1987-1988, in 1993, and again from 2008-2010.During these surveys, plants were collected from diverse habitats in different areas of the twin districts.During collection, detailed field observations were recorded, including notes on ethnobotanical uses of various plants by the local people.The collected plant specimens were properly processed following standard herbarium techniques, and identified at the Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, University of Kashmir, using relevant Floras and other available taxonomic literature (Hooker, 1872-97;Stewart, 1972;Sharma and Kachroo, 1981-82) and online resources, such as Flora of Pakistan and Flora of China.Identifications were in some cases verified against previously identified herbarium specimens at the Kashmir University Herbarium (KASH).The exsiccatae of all the plant species included in this paper are deposited in KASH.

Results
The present paper for the first time provides an inventory of 352 species of vascular plants collected by the authors from various areas in the Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu provice in the J & K State.

Taxonomic enumeration
The sequence of plant groups in this enumeration starts with pteridophytes, followed by gymnosperms and then angiosperms.Within each of these plant groups, the families, genera and species are arranged alphabetically in tabular form.For each of the species, its current valid name and author citation is provided in the first column; while in the second column details of exsiccatae are given, inculding district and local area of collection, altitude of the area, date of collection, name of the collector(s) and collection number (s) [Table 1].For some species, brief and helpful field/lab taxonomic notes are also appended.

Discussion
Rajouri and Poonch, two border districts located on southerly foothills of the Pir Panjal Himalaya are botanically the least surveyed areas in the Jammu province of Jammu & Kashmir State, with very little and preliminary information available on their flora.Singh and Kirn (1981) provided a list of some alpine plants of Poonch; Kirn (1992) presented a brief account of some medicinal plants of Pir Panjal Range; Singh (1992) gave an introductory account of some wild flowering plants of Rajouri;Vir Jee et al. (1984) reported their concise taxo-ethnobotanical observations made in some rural areas of Rajouri;Dar et al. (2009) published an abstract of the inventory of higher plants of Rajouri;while Malik et al. (2010) listed some woody plants of Rajouri and Poonch in their paper on woody flora of Jammu & Kashmir.To augment the floristic knowledge of these areas, the present studies were undertaken.
In the present paper, the results of plant surveys and collections made from Rajouri-Poonch districts during the last two to three decades are consolidated, with a view to facilitate documentation of their overall floristic diversity.The inventory provided here records a total of 352 species of vascular plants, which belong to 270 genera in 83 families.Ethnobotanical notes are also appended with some taxa to document their traditional uses.