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Pak. J. Bot., 44: 165-170, Special Issue May 2012. |
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Updated: 06-07-12 | ||||
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ETHNOBOTANICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF SOME ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES COLLECTED FROM TWO DIFFERENT ALTITUDES IN GILGIT BALTISTAN
SHAH FAHAD AND ASGHARI BANO*
Abstract: This paper was aimed to study the endangered plant species collected from two different altitudes in GilgitBaltistan. There were total 105 identified species from the field areas of Naltar (2700-4350 ma.s.l) and Karga (1400-1700 ma.s.l) belonging to 36 families. The important families were Asteraceae (27 species), Poaceae (6 species), Fabaceae (8 species), Lamiaceae (8 species) and Rosaceae (3 species).The observed species richness pattern in the field areas showed that Naltar with 60 species had the highest species richness while Karga with 45 species inhabit minimum number of species. There are few species Artemisia laciniata, Artemisia maritiama, Aconitum napellus, Angelica glauca, Betula utilis var. D. Don, Bergenia himalacia, Carum carvi, Onosma hispidum, Ephedra gerardiana, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Hippophae rhamnoides, Picrorhizza kurrooa, Podophylum emodi, Sussurea lappa, Thymus serphylum, Valeriana walllichii that are endangered due to endemic nature of plants, high domestic as well as export demand. In above endangered plant species 10 belong to Naltar while 6 belong to Karga. Artemisia laciniatais used for jaundice, gall bladder and for high fever. Leaf paste of Artemisia maritiama is utilized for skin infections. Angelica glauca is being used for such diverse medical problems as chest congestion, insomnia, flatulence, headache, fever, skin rashes and wounds. Betula utilis var. D. Don is used for ear pain and its related problems. It was observed that there was increase in sugar, protein and proline contents of medicinal plant leaves at high altitude which were lower at low altitude. Similarly ABA contents also increased at high altitude while IAA and GA contents were found maximum at lower altitude.
Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad *Corresponding author: banoasghari@gmail.com |
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