ISSN 2375-088X
African Journal of Soil Sciences ISSN: 2375-088X Vol. 2 (4), pp. 077-078, October, 2014. © International Scholars Journal
Full Length Research Paper
Floristic composition, life form and leaf spectra of plant communities recorded at Sarsawa hills district Kotli, Azad Kashmir
1Ashfaq Nazir, 1Riffat NaseemMalik1 and HamayunShaheen2
1Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
2Department of Botany, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffrabad, Pakistan.
E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted 14, March 2014
Abstract
The flora of Sarsawa Hills, District Kotli, Azad Kashmir consisted of 40 plant species belonging to 24 families. Of them, 18 families were Dicots; 4 Monocots and 1 Pteridophytes. Gymnosperms were represented by Pinaceae only. Poaceae had 12 species which was followed by Euphorbiaceae (3 spp.). Acanthaceae, Leguminoseae and Urticaceae had 2 species each while remaining families had single species. The biological spectrum showed that hemicryptophytes (27.5%) and megaphanerophytes (25%) were the most abundant, followed by nanophanerophytes (22.5%) and therophytes (17.5%). Geophytes (5%) chemophytes (2.5%)had low occurrence in the investigated area. Leaf spectra investigation revealed thatleptophylls were dominant (40%), followed by nanophylls (22.5%), microphylls (22.5%), and mesophylls (15%). No megaphylls were reported in the investigated area due to severe drought condition.
Key words: Floristic list, Leaf size, Leaf form, Sarsawa hills, Kotli.