J. Appl. Environ. Biol. Sci. , 7(3)41-48, 2017 ISSN: 2090-4274 Journal of Applied Environmental © 2017, TextRoad Publication and Biological Sciences www.textroad.com First Floristic Checklist of Dilbori (OGHI), District Mansehra, KP, Pakistan Junaid Ahmed1, Inayat Ur Rahman 1,2 *, Abbas Hussain Shah 1, Farhana Ijaz 2, Zulfiqar Khan 1, Niaz Ali 2, Said Muhammad 2, Zeeshan Ahmed1 and Muhammad Afzal 2 1Department of Botany, Govt. Post Graduate College, Mansehra-21300, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan 2Department of Botany, Hazara University Mansehra-21300, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Received: November 16, 2016 Accepted: January 31, 2017 ABSTRACT Dilbori (study area) is an unexplored area so it is imperative to introduce region in floristic terms for the first time. Field surveys were carried out to explore the biodiversity of different parts of the study area in different seasons during 2016-17. Total 104 species belonging to 88 genera and 54 families were recorded from the study area, out of which 97 plant species belongs to Angiosperms, 3 to Gymnosperms, 3 to Fungi and 1 was Pteridophytic species. On the basis of plant habit, herbaceous growth form dominates the study area with 56 species, followed by trees with 30 species, shrubs with 14 species and mushrooms with 3 species. Whereas, one parasitic plant species was also found. Among all 54 families, Rosaceae was the leading family with 12 species, followed by Asteraceae with 8 species, Lamiaceae with 7 species, Moraceae and Papilionaceae with 4 species each. Oleaceae, Pinaceae, Poaceae and Solanaceae had 3 species each. Furthermore, 12 families had 2 species each. While the remaining 33 families had 1 species each. Study reflects the overall floristic scenario and may be beneficial as reference study for ecological, conservation and sustainable use of plants. This exploration is a part of an ongoing project in which we will explore ecological as well as ethnobotanical gradients of the regional flora in near future. KEYWORDS: Floristic checklist, Biodiversity, Rosaceae, Oghi, Pakistan INTRODUCTION Dilbori is a village and union council of Tehsil Oghi, district Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan (Figure 1). It is situated between 34.55579˚ North and 072.97191˚ East with highest altitude of 1719m. It is bordered by Battagram on North side, Mansehra on South side, Torgarh on West and Battal on East side. Tehsil Oghi was named due to main city of the area as it is about 1000-year-old town and the whole area is now known as Oghi. Whereas, the original name of Oghi is Agror Valley, it is a small valley lying at the foothills of Black Mountain and is separated from Pakhli by the ridge of Tanglai [1]. There are five Union Councils in Agror Valley which are; Oghi, Belian, Kathai, Shamdhara and Dilbori. Peerpatta, Choor Kalam Ghanian, Bagrian, Dilbori, Jeshkot, Tarwai, Shahtoot are main villages of this Union Council. The largest mountain ranges [2], plains, valleys [3-6] and lakes [7] are the distinct features of Mansehra. There is much diversity in the flora due to the variability in topography and climate. According to the report of Walter and Hamiston [8], approximately 4,22,000 flowering plants have been reported globally and about 6000 flowering plants species so far have been documented from Pakistan [9]. The main source of botanical information of a particular area is its floristic checklists [10]. Floristic study of any given area helps to evaluate the plant wealth and its potential values [11]. Local plant species documentation is very necessary to introduce specific floral species of the local area, their occurrence and finding new species [12]. Many workers have contributed comprehensive floristic checklists of local flora in different regions [13-15]. As Pakistan has a varied climate and is rich in flora, scattered over a large area [16]. *Corresponding Author: Inayat Ur Rahman, Department of Botany, Govt. Post Graduate College, Mansehra-21300, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Email:[email protected]; [email protected] 41 Ahmed et al., 2017 Figure 1: Map of the study area. (Map by Inayat Ur Rahman) A number of authors have contributed comprehensive floristic checklists of local flora in different regions [13-15]. Pakistan is rich in floral diversity because of variability in climate [16]. The study area has great potential for flourishing a rich plant biodiversity due to the presence of diverse microhabitats and topographic features. Therefore, the present study was planned with an objective to document the floristic checklist of this unexplored study area. This study will provide a baseline for the future plant ecological, conservation and ethnobotanical investigations of the study area. 42 J. Appl. Environ. Biol. Sci. , 7(3)41-48, 2017 MATERIALS AND METHODS Field surveys were carried out to explore the biodiversity of various parts of the study area in different seasons of 2016-17. Surveys were carried out during flowering and fruiting stages and photographs of plant species were taken. Data recorded in the field notebook were; scientific name, vernacular name, family, habit. Plants were serially tagged and properly pressed, dried, poisoned and mounted on the herbarium sheets [17-19]. Plants were identified with the help of available literature and Flora of Pakistan [20-22]. Voucher specimens were deposited for accession numbers in Herbarium, Department of Botany, Government Post Graduate College, Mansehra. The plant names were checked and updated with the online website (www.theplantlist.org) of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew assessed on 25 January, 2017. Figure 2: Some photographs of recorded plant species captured during field work in the study area (A) First author during collection, (B) Prunus domestica , (C) Rubus fruiticosus, (D) Convolvulus arvensis, (E) Oxalis corniculata and (F) Callistemon citrinus [Photos: A, B, C by Junaid Ahmad and D,E,F by Farhana Ijaz] 43 Ahmed et al., 2017 RESULTS A total of 104 species belonging to 88 genera and 54 families were recorded from the study area out of which 97 (93%) plant species belonged to angiosperms, 3 (3%) species to gymnosperms, 3 (3%) fungal species and 1 (1%) was a Pteridophytic species (Figure 3). Figure 3: Division of the floral species recorded from the study area On the basis of plant habit, herbaceous growth form dominates the study area with 56 species having 55%, followed by trees with 30 (29%) species, shrubs 14 (14%) species and mushroom 3 (3%) species. Whereas, one parasitic plant species was also found and collected (Table 1 & Figure 4). Figure 4: Growth form of the species recorded from the study area Among all 54 families, Rosaceae was the most dominant family with 12 species, followed by Asteraceae with 8 species, Lamiaceae with 7 species, Moraceae and Papilionaceae with 4 species each. Oleaceae, Pinaceae, Poaceae and Solanaceae had 3 species each and then they were followed by 12 families including; Alliaceae, Amaranthaceae, Apiaceae, Brassicaceae Chenopodiaceae, Ebenaceae, Fabaceae, Meliaceae, Mimosaceae, Myrtaceae, Polygonaceae and Rannunculaceae with 2 species each. While, the remaining 33 families i.e. Araliaceae, Balsaminaceae, Berberidaceae, Caesalpinaceae, Cannabaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cuscutaceae, 44 J. Appl. Environ. Biol. Sci. , 7(3)41-48, 2017 Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fumariaceae, Geraniaceae, Juglandaceae, Lythraceae, Malvaceae, Morchellaceae, Onagraceae, Oxalidaceae, Physalacriaceae, Plantaginaceae, Platanaceae, Primulaceae, Pteridaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Russulaceae, Salicaceae, Sapindaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Simaroubaceae, Thymaleaceae, Urticaceae and Vitaceae had 1 species each (Table 1 & Figure 5). Figure 5: Floral species family wise distribution of recorded from the study area Table 1: List of plant species, biological spectrum and phenology of Dilbori, Tehsil Oghi, District Mansehra, KP, Pakistan S. No. Plant Species Family Name Plant Habit 1. Acacia modesta Wall. Mimosaceae T 2. Acacia nilotica (L.) Delile Mimosaceae S 3. Achyranthus aspera L. Amaranthaceae H 4. Adiantum capillus-veneris L. Pteridaceae H 5. Ailanthus altissima (Mill) Swingle Simaroubaceae T 6. Ajuga integrifolia Buch.-Ham. Lamiaceae H 7. Allium cepa L. Alliaceae H 8. Allium sativum L. Alliaceae H 9. Amaranthus viridus L. Amaranthaceae H 10. Anagallis arvensis Primulaceae H 11. Avena sativa L . Poaceae H 12. Azadirachta indica A.Juss. Meliaceae T 13. Bauhinia variegata L. Caesalpinaceae T 14. Berberis lycium Royle Berberidaceae S 15. Brassica campestris L. Brassicaceae H 16. Bromus secalinus L. Poaceae H 17. Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) Skeels Myrtaceae T 18. Cannabis sativa L. Cannabaceae H 19. Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medic . Brassicaceae H 20. Cedrus deodara Roxb. ex Lamb. Pinaceae T 21. Chenopodium album L. Chenopodiaceae H 22. Cichorum intybus L. Asteraceae H 23. Clematis grata Wall. Rannunculaceae S 24. Convolvulus arvensis L. Convolvulaceae H 25. Conyza sp. Asteraceae H 26. Coriandrum sativum L. Apiaceae H 45 Ahmed et al., 2017 27. Cotoneaster microphyllus Wall.exLindl. Rosaceae S 28. Cuscuta reflexa Roxb. Cuscutaceae Pp 29. Cynodon dactylon L. Poaceae H 30. Cyperus rotundus L. Cyperaceae H 31. Dalbergia sissoo DC. Papilionaceae T 32. Daphne mucronata Royle Thymelaeaceae S 33. Datura alba L. Solanaceae H 34. Diospyros kaki L.f. Ebenaceae T 35. Diospyros lotus L. Ebenaceae T 36. Dodonaea viscosa (L.) Jacq. Sapindaceae S 37. Duchesnea indica (Jacks.) Focke Rosaceae H 38. Dysphania ambrosiodes (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants Chenopodiaceae H 39. Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.)