International Multidisciplinary e –Journal. Author: N. Peetabas .( 06 - 11 ) DOMINANT FAMILY FABACEAE OF KANDHAMAL DISTRICT, ODISHA, INDIA N. Peetabas Department of Botany, Science College, Kukudakhandi ABSTRACT The family Fabaceae is well known for its protein contents and other valuable uses. A total of 652 plant species were collected from the forest pockets of Kandhamal district during the survey work conducted from 2007 to 2009. About 9% of the total collections including 56 plant species belonging to this family are enumerated here. Key words: Dominant, herbarium, species diversity, floristic composition INTRODUCTION: Kandhamal separated from Phulabani became an independent district on 2nd October 1992. The Kandhamal district located between 19034’to 20034’ north latitude and 83030’ to 84035’ east longitude in central part of Odisha. It is bounded by Boudha district north, Koraput district on south, Nayagarh and Ganjam in east and Kalahandi in west. The floristic account of this area has remained comparatively unknown. The luxuriant forest pockets have been used as hiding dwellings by the naxalites, maoists and other criminal elements of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The district could not be botanised perfectly by Saxena and Brahmam (1994-96) may be owing to the above reasons. A few of literatures (Mooney, 1950) are also available containing sporadic references. Attempts were also made by Mishra and Das, 1988; Hemadri and Rao, 1989-91; Aminuddin and Girach, 1991; Prusty, 2007; Prusty and Behera, 2007; Pattnaik et al., 2008 etc. but their works were mostly confined to ethnobotanical noting only. The authors www.shreeprakashan.com Id: [email protected],Vol-IV, Issue–IX, Sept, 2015. Page 6 International Multidisciplinary e –Journal. Author: N. Peetabas .( 06 - 11 ) have taken the hardship to explore the floristic possessions of the district so that the economy of the district can be improved in near future. Family Fabaceae includes angiospermic dicotyledonous plants belonging to order- fabales, series-calyciflorae and subclass-polypetalae of class-magnoliopsida. The Fabaceae family (= Leguminosae) consists of approximately 650 genera and 18,000 species; it is one of the largest Angiosperm families (Polhill et aI., 1981; Judd et al., 1999). The Faboideae is the largest of the three Fabaceae subfamilies with about 440 genera and 12,000 species (Polhill, 1981). Legume species have a great economic importance since many of them are nitrogen fixers, act in soil conservation, are used for the production of timber, fuel, pesticides, forage, gums, colorants, carbohydrates, proteins and oils (Polhill et al., 1981) and there are also many with ornamental and apicultural importance (Rodriguez-Riano et a/., 1999). Therefore, the present paper highlights different species of fabaceae Kandhamal district, Odisha, India. Fig.1 Digital map of Kandhamal district MATERIALS AND METHODS Systematic field surveys were undertaken to almost all the forest ranges of Kandhamal(Fig.1). The field trips were organized so as to cover all the areas of the district at regular intervals in different seasons. As a result it became possible to collect the plants in various developmental stages of their life cycle. After critical study the specimens were www.shreeprakashan.com Id: [email protected],Vol-IV, Issue–IX, Sept, 2015. Page 7 International Multidisciplinary e –Journal. Author: N. Peetabas .( 06 - 11 ) identified following Flora of Odisha (Saxena and Brahmam, 1994-96) and compared with the authentic specimens of the herbarium. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION During the year 2007-09, the forests of Kandhamal district were surveyed extensively. The existing vegetation is found to fall broadly under three types viz. tropical semi-evergreen forest, tropical dry deciduous forest and tropical moist deciduous forest as per the classification of revised forest types of India (Champion and Seth, 1968). Besides the above, several types and subtypes like bamboo brakes, riparian fringing forest, scrubs, grass lands etc. are noticed mostly either developed or resulted due to biotic influence. The state is the southern most limit of sal. This is also the meeting place of sal and teak (Saxena and Brahmam, 1994). There are some literatures about the legumes of India (Caius, 1989; Singh et al., 1998), but no publication particularly related to Kandhamal or Odisha is available. In "The Flora of Odisha" (Saxena and Brahmam, 1994-96) there are 228 species of Fabaceae. In this piece of work a total of 56 species belonging to this family are enumerated (Table. 1) out of 652 total collections. This includes 30 herbs, 11 shrubs, 7 climbers and 8 tree species (Fig. 3). The other major families viz. Poaceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Acanthaceae, Cyperaceae and pubiaceae having 40,34,31,29,27 and 26 number of species respectively (Fig. 2) indicate Fabaceae has the largest species diversity. The cause of the species richness may be the topography and climatic conditions prevailing in the locality that support the luxuriant growth of the family. Apart from this the regeneration capacity or viability of these species can also be taken into account. Majority of the species are herbs and are found to be mostly of therapeutic uses. Though, 8 different tree species are found, their population is comparatively less as they are widely used in making agricultural implements and furniture which are of high economic value. This may lead to complete destruction of tree species from their natural habitat. There is a threat to the woody climbers also as they can not avail the support for their growth due to the rapid destruction of the trees from the forests. Hence there is an immediate need to give attention for the conservation measures, so that we can save these plants in wild. www.shreeprakashan.com Id: [email protected],Vol-IV, Issue–IX, Sept, 2015. Page 8 International Multidisciplinary e –Journal. Author: N. Peetabas .( 06 - 11 ) Table 1 : List of Fabaceae Plants in Kandhamal District Plant names Parts used Uses Abrus precatorius Seed Root For abortion, Cough & Cold Aeschynomene americana Whole plant As fodder & Manure Aeschynomene aspera Stem In cork Manufacturing Aeschynomene indica Whole plant As fodder & Manure A/ysicarpus vagina/is Whole plant As fodder & Manure Alysicarpus vaginalis Root Against colic Aty/osia scarabaeoides Whole plant Against diarrhoea Atylosia vo/ubilis Whole plant As fodder Butea superba Stem, Leaf & Bark Cure piles and fibres for rope making Cajanus cajan Seed & Tender Leaves As food and against gum problem Cratalaria acicularis Whole plant For manure Cratalaria a/bida Root & whole herb As a Purgative and fodder Crata/aria pal/ida Whole plant As fodder and Manure Cratalaria prastrata Root Against Infantile diarrhoea Crotalaria ramosissima Root Against dysentery Cratalaria spectabilis Leaf & Whole plant Against scabies and as fodder Dalbergia lanceolaria Trunk & bark As timber and against fever Dalbergia latifolia Trunk & branches Timber for household articles and fuel Dalbergia sissoo Bark & trunk Against cholera Dalbergia volubilis Root Against gonorrhoea Desmodium gangeticum Whole plant Antipyretic Desmodium heteracarpon Whole plant As fodder and manure Desmodium motorium Whole plant As fodder and manure Desmodium oojeinensis Bark & trunk For joining fractured bones Desmodium pu/chel/um Bark Against haemorrhage Desmodium triflorum Whole plant Against dysentery Desmodium triquetrum Roots Carminative Desmodium velutinum Whole plant For manure Erythraena variegata Leaves & seed Against worms and in soap industries Flemingia bracteata Roots For sleeping Indigofera astragalina Whole plant As fodder and Manure Indigofera cassioides Flowers Diuretic /ndigofera glabra Whole plant For manure Indigofera linifolia Whole plant Against amenorrhoea Indigofera linnaei Whole plant As fodder Indigofera nummularifolia Whole plant As fodder and Manure Indigofera prastrata Seeds Fish poisoning Mil/ettia extensa Seed, bark & stem In birth control and fish poisoning Mil/ettia racemosa Bark In fish poisoning Mucuna nigricans Seeds Against leprosy Mucuna pruriens Root Against Cholera Pongamia pinnata Seed In skin diseases and rheumatism Pseudarthria viscida Whole plant Against rheumatism Pteracarpus marsupium Gum & trunk In diarrhoea and as timber Rothia indica Whole plant As fodder Sesbania bispinosa Stem Forfibre Sesbania grandiflora Root Against diarrhoea Smithia conferta Whole plant Laxative www.shreeprakashan.com Id: [email protected],Vol-IV, Issue–IX, Sept, 2015. Page 9 International Multidisciplinary e –Journal. Author: N. Peetabas .( 06 - 11 ) Tephrasia purpurea Whole plant Diuretic Tephrasia vil/osa Seed In fish poisoning Teramnus labialis Fruit Astringent Teramnus mol/is Whole plant As fodder Uraria rufescens Root Aphrodisiac Vigna radiata Fruit & whole plant As food and fodder Vigna umbel/ata Whole plant As fodder Zomia gibbosa Whole plant For sleeping Table – 2 Table shows major Families with species Sr No. Name of Family No. of Species 1 Fabaceae 56 2 Poeceae 40 3 Astaraceae 34 4 Euphorbioceae 31 5 Acanthaceae 29 6 Cyperaceae 27 7 Rulsiaceae 26 No. of Species 1 Fabaceae 2 Poeceae 3 Astaraceae 4 Euphorbioceae 5 Acanthaceae 6 Cyperaceae 7 Rulsiaceae Fig.2 Chart showing major families and number of species Table-3 : Tables shows habitat and number of species Sr No. Name of Plant No. of Species 1 Herbs 30 2 Shurb 11 3 Climber 7 4 Tree 8 www.shreeprakashan.com Id: [email protected],Vol-IV, Issue–IX, Sept, 2015. Page 10 International Multidisciplinary e –Journal.