Annual Review & Research in Biology
3(1): 31-41, 2013
SCIENCEDOMAIN international
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Floristic Composition and Biological
Characteristics of the Vegetation of Sheikh
Maltoon Town District Mardan, Pakistan
Musharaf Khan1*, Farrukh Hussain2 and Shahana Musharaf3
1
Department of Botany, Federal Government College Mardan, Pakistan.
2
Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.
3
Department of Chemistry, Government Girls Degree College, Sheikh Maltoon, Mardan,
Pakistan.
Authors’ contributions
This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Author MK designed the
study, performed the field work and statistical analysis, wrote the protocol, and wrote the first
draft of the manuscript. Author FH managed the analyses of the study. Author SM managed
the literature searches. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
th
Research Article
Received 30 October 2012
rd
Accepted 3 January 2013
th
Published 6 February 2013
ABSTRACT
Aims: The study was designed to explore the floristic composition and biological
characteristics.
Place and Duration of Study: A record of plant species of Sheikh Maltoon Town Mardan
was organized during 2008 – 2009.
Methodology: A record of plant species was organized on the source of field trips
conducted in winter, summer and monsoon, and identified with available literature. The
plants were classified into different life form and leaf size classes after standard methods.
Results: The flora consisted of 91 plant species belonging to 76 genera and 38 families.
Asteraceae, Poaceae and Cucurbitaceae are the dominant families of the floristic
composition of research area. The biological spectrum explains that therophytes (52 spp.,
57.14%), magaphanerophytes (11 spp., 12.09%) were the dominant followed by
hemicryptophytes (9 spp., 9.89%), chamaephytes (8 spp., 8.79%), nanophanerophytes (6
spp., 6.59%), geophytes (4 spp., 4.39%) and parasite (1 spp., 1.1%). Leaf spectra of plants
consisted of microphylls (46.2%), mesophylls (25.3%), nanophylls (13.2%), leptophylls
(9.59%) and megaphylls (5.49%).
____________________________________________________________________________________________
*Corresponding author: Email: [email protected];
Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
Conclusion: Analysis of the present work reveals the phytoclimate to be of therophytic
type. The domination of therophytes indicates that the investigated area is under deep
biotic stress.
Keywords: Urban flora; life form; leaf size classes; Sheikh Maltoon; Mardan; Pakistan.
1. INTRODUCTION
Biological spectrum of vegetation is the index of the phytoclimate, deduction of which is
based on diverse life-forms composing the flora. The life-form in its turn is the ultimate
manifestation of the sum of all the adaptations undergone by a plant to the climate in which it
resides. Author Raunkiaer [1] proposed the term “Biological Spectrum” to express both the
life-form distribution in a flora and phytoclimate under which the prevailing life-forms evolved.
Life-form study is thus an important part of vegetation description, ranking next to floristic
composition. Leaf size classes have been set up to be very positive for plant associations.
The leaf size knowledge may help out in the accepting of physiological processes of plants
and plant communities [2]. Life form and leaf size spectra indicates climatic and human
disturbance of a particular area [3]. The life form and leaf size spectra are significant
physiognomic feature that comprise generally in vegetation studies. The life form spectra are
supposed to be the signal of micro and macroclimate [4]. Disturbances can have an
unfathomable outcome on life forms, phenology and distribution of plant populations.
Disturbances caused by man and animals such as fire, scraping and profound grazing
frequently reappear within the life period of a plant and may comprise significant constituent
of its life cycle [5]. Literature dealing with the life form and leaf size spectra shows that very
little work has been made in Pakistan i.e. [6,7,8,9,10,11]. The biological spectrum is thus
useful as an index of the health status of a forest. When worked out at periodic intervals,
biological spectrum may set the guidelines for eco-restoration and optimization of a
community. In view of this, the present work was under taken in the forested areas of Sheikh
Maltoon Town, Mardan.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1 General Survey
The study area was thoroughly surveyed during the year 2008 - 2009 from time to time to
learn the botanical and biological situation. It presents a prospect to compose plant
compilation and field interpretation throughout the flowering and fruiting of maximum quantity
of species.
2.2 Plant Collection and Identification
Plant specimens collected from the area were dried and preserved. They were identified
from first to last available literature [12,13]. These plant specimens were submitted to the
Herbarium, Department of Botany, Federal Government College Mardan, Pakistan.
2.3 Biological Characteristics
The plants were classified into different life form and leaf size classes as follows after
[1,14,15].
32
Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
2.4 Location of the Study Area and Physiography
The district lies from 34º12'0"N 72º2'24"E. The elevation of the valley is 1000 to 2056m
above sea level. The total area of the district is 1632 kilometers. Mardan district may broadly
be divided into two parts, North-Eastern hilly area and south western plain [16]. The
provincial government under section-17 of the Khyber pakhtun khawa urban planning
ordinance-1978 established Mardan development authority in 1976 and further devolved to
district government under section 182 of local government ordinance 2001. Sheikh Maltoon
Town is one of the famous town of Mardan due to expensive area most of the area is open
which showed the look of Natural Park (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Map of Sheikh Maltoon Town, District Mardan
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
There were 91 plant species comprising 71 herbs, 9 shrubs and 11 tree species belonging to
76 genera and 38 families (Fig. 2). The well represented families were Asteraceae (11 spp.),
Poaceae (9 spp.) and Cucurbitaceae (6 spp.). Thus the Asteraceae, Poaceae and
Cucurbitaceae are the dominant families of the floristic composition of research area.
Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae, Solanaceae (5 spp. each), Moraceae (4 spp.), Brassicaceae,
Chenopodiaceae, Malvaceae and Zygophyllaceae were represented by 3 species each.
Amaranthaceae,
Caesalpinaceae,
Cyperaceae,
Nyctaginaceae,
Papaveraceae,
Papilionaceae and Rosaceae were represented by 2 species only. The remaining 20 families
were represented by one specie each (Fig. 3). The biological spectrum showed that
therophytes (52 spp., 57.14 %) and magaphanerophytes (11 spp., 12.09%) were the
dominant life form followed by hemicryptophytes (9 spp., 9.89%), chamaephytes (8 spp.,
8.79%), nanophanerophytes (6 spp., 6.59%), geophytes (4 spp., 4.39%) and parasite (1
spp., 1.1%) (Fig. 4; Table 1). Leaf spectra showed that microphylls was dominant (46.2%)
followed by mesophylls (25.3%), nanophylls (13.2%), leptophylls (9.59%) and megaphylls
(5.49%) (Fig. 5; Table 1).
33
Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
No species
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Percentage
Herb
Shrubs
Tree
Habit
Fig. 2. Distribution of the total flora in herbs, shrubs and trees in Shiekh Maltoon
Town, Mardan.
12
No Species
10
8
6
4
2
Rosaceae
Papilionaceae
Papaveraceae
Nyctaginaceae
Cyperaceae
Caesalpinaceae
Amaranthaceae
Zygophyllaceae
Malvaceae
Species
Chenopodiaceae
Asteraceae
Poaceae
Cucurbitaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Lamiaceae
Solanaceae
Moraceae
Brassicaceae
0
Families
Fig. 3. Number of species in families in Sheikh Maltoon Town Mardan.
34
Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
60
No species
50
Percentage
40
30
20
10
0
No. Plants
Life form classes
Fig. 4. Distribution of the total flora in different life form classes in Sheikh Maltoon
Town Mardan.
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Percentage
Lefe size classes
Fig. 5. Distribution of the total flora in different leaf size classes in Sheikh Maltoon
Town Mardan.
35
Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
Table 1. Flora and Biological characteristics in Sheikh Maltoon Mardan, Pakistan
S.No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Botanical name
Abelmoschus esculentus L.
Achyranthus aspera L.
Ajuga bractiosa Wall. Benth.
Ajuga parviflora Benth
Alhagi maurorum Medic.
Allium sativum L.
Amaranthus viridis L.
Avena sativa L.
Boerhaavia procumbens Banks ex Roxb.
Bromus japonicus Thumb ex Murr.
Calotropis procera (Wight.) Ali.
Cannabis sativa L.
Capsella bursa-pestoris Medic.
Carthamus oxycantha M. Bieb.
Cassia fistula L.
Cassia occidentalis L.
Cenchrus ciliaris L.
Centaurea calcitrapa L.
Chenopodium album L.
Chenopodium murale L.
Chrozophora oblique (Vahl) A. Juss.
Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mats.
Citrus aurantifolia Christmann.
Convolvulus arvensis L.
Coriandrum sativum L.
Cucimus prophetarum L.
Cucurbita maxima Duchesne.
Cucurbita pepo L.
Cuscuta reflexa Roxb.
Cymbopogon distans (Nees ex Steud.)Watson.
Cynodon dactylon L. Pers.
Cyperus rotundus L.
Family
Malvaceae
Amaranthaceae
Lamiaceae
Lamiaceae
Papilionaceae
Liliaceae
Amaranthaceae
Poaceae
Nyctaginaceae
Poaceae
Asclepiadaceae
Canabinaceae
Brassicaceae
Asteraceae
Caesalpinaceae
Caesalpinaceae
Poaceae
Asteraceae
Chenopodiaceae
Chenopodiaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Cucurbitaceae
Rutaceae
Convolvulaceae
Apiaceae
Cucurbitaceae
Cucurbitaceae
Cucurbitaceae
Cuscutaceae
Poaceae
Poaceae
Cyperaceae
Habit
H
H
H
H
S
H
H
H
H
H
S
H
H
H
T
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
S
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
Life form
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
Geo
TH
TH
CH
Hem
CH
TH
TH
TH
MP
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
CH
TH
NP
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
P
Hem
Hem
Hem
Leaf size
Mic
Mes
Mic
Mic
Na
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mes
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mes
Mes
Na
Mes
Mic
Le
Mes
Mes
Mic
Mic
Le
Mes
Mg
Mg
Le
Mic
Le
Le
36
Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
Cyperus scarlosus R.Br.
Datura metel L.
Datura stramonium L.
Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb.
Dodonaea viscosa (L.) Jacq.
Eruca sativa Mill.
Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh.
Euphorbia helioscopia Mewski.
Euphorbia hirta L.
Euphorbia prostrata L.
Fagonia cretica Burm.
Ficus carica Hausskn. Ex. Boiss.
Ficus religiosa L.
Fumaria indica (Hausskn) Pugsley.
Gallium aparine L.
Heliotropium europaeum L.
Hordeum vulgare L.
Launea procumbens Roxb.
Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roem.
Malva neglecta Wallr.
Malvastrum coromandelianum(L.) Garcke.
Melia azedarach L.
Mentha arvensis L.
Mentha longifolia L.
Mirabilis jalapa L.
Momordica charantia L.
Morus alba L.
Morus nigra L.
Ocimum basilicum L.
Onopordum acanthium L.
Oxalis corniculata L.
Papaver rhoeas L.
Papaver somniferum L.
Parthenium hysterophorus L.
Peganum harmala L.
Cyperaceae
Solanaceae
Solanaceae
Brassicaceae
Sapindaceae
Brassicaceae
Myrtaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Zygophyllaceae
Moraceae
Moraceae
Fumariaceae
Rubiaceae
Boraginaceae
Poaceae
Asteraceae
Cucurbitaceae
Malvaceae
Malvaceae
Meliaceae
Lamiaceae
Lamiaceae
Nyctaginaceae
Cucurbitaceae
Moraceae
Moraceae
Lamiaceae
Asteraceae
Oxalidaceae
Papaveraceae
Papaveraceae
Asteraceae
Zygophyllaceae
H
S
H
H
S
H
T
H
H
H
H
T
T
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
T
H
H
H
H
T
T
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
Hem
NP
NP
TH
NP
TH
MP
TH
TH
TH
TH
MP
MP
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
MP
Geo
Geo
CH
TH
MP
MP
CH
CH
Geo
TH
TH
TH
Hem
Le
Mes
Mes
Na
Mic
Mic
Mic
Na
Mic
Le
Na
Mes
Mes
Le
Le
Na
Mic
Mes
Mg
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mes
Mes
Mes
Mes
Mic
Na
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mes
Mic
37
Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
Portulaca olearaceae L.
Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.
Punica granatum L.
Riccinis communis L.
Rosa indica L.
Rumex dentatus L.
Saccharum spontaneum L.
Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.
Solanum nigrum L.
Solanum surattense Burm.f.
Sonchus arvensis L.
Sonchus asper (L.) Hill.
Sonchus auriculata L.
Sorghum halepense (L.) Persoon
Spinacea oleracea L.
Stellaria media (L.) Cry.
Tamarix indica Willd.
Taraxacum officinale Weber.
Tribulus terrestris L.
Vicia sativa L.
Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal.
Xanthium strumarium L.
Zea mays L.
Ziziphus jujuba Mill.
Portulacaceae
Rosaceae
Punicaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Rosaceae
Polygonaceae
Poaceae
Asteraceae
Solanaceae
Solanaceae
Asteraceae
Asteraceae
Asteraceae
Poaceae
Chenopodiaceae
Caryophyllaceae
Tamaricaceae
Asteraceae
Zygophyllaceae
Papilionaceae
Solanaceae
Asteraceae
Poaceae
Rhamnaceae
H
T
T
S
S
H
S
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
T
H
H
H
S
H
H
T
Hem
MP
MP
NP
NP
TH
Hem
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
TH
Hem
TH
TH
MP
TH
TH
TH
CH
CH
TH
MP
Na
Mic
Na
Mg
Mic
Mes
Mic
Mes
Mic
Mic
Mes
Mic
Mic
Mic
Mic
Na
Na
Mic
Mic
Na
Mes
Mes
Mg
Mic
38
Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
The grasslands of the area comprises the grasses like Avena sativa, Bromus japonicas,
Cenchrus ciliaris, Cymbopogon distans, Cynodon dactylon, Hordeum vulgare, Saccharum
spontaneum and Sorghum halepense. Tree species like Cassia fistula, Eucalyptus
camaldulensis, Ficus carica, Ficus religiosa, Melia azedarach, Morus nigra, Prunus persica,
Punica granatum and Tamarix indica are the examples of keystone species growing in the
research area. One specie of parasite was reported from the area, which is Cuscuta reflexa.
Cuscuta reflexa is a commonly occurring total stem parasite found parasitizing on shrubs
and trees of the research area. The exotic flora was reported from the research area which
includes Acacia nilotica, Cynodon dactylon, Cyperus rotundus, Datura metel, Melia
azedarach, Parthenium hysterophorus, Punica granatum and Ziziphus mauritiana. Author
[17] have reported the exotic flora from India.
Analysis of the present work reveals the phytoclimate to be of therophytic type. The
dominance of therophytes (52 spp., 57.14%) indicated that the investigated area was under
heavy biotic pressure. Many plant species were decreasing in the research area. Most of the
medicinal plants were uprooted for burning purposes and grazed by the livestock. Most plant
species were removed from this area due to urbanization. Even fruiting orchards and trees
were also removed from surrounding area and used for private housing schemes.
Understanding the causes, mechanisms, and consequences of changes in flora in urban
environment has a number of important ecological and economic implications. Such type of
study was also taken by [18, 19, 20]. While potential is yet to be explored for studying
biological characteristics, such a landscape ecological approach has been quite successful
in a variety of biological studies, including a number of urban ecological examples [21, 22,
23]. The biodiversity of the area have undergone irreversible changes caused by urban
cover. This study was only a first step towards understanding the flora, structure and
functioning of the area landscape. The addition of this study to understanding the
mechanisms involved in urban landscape pattern formation necessitates a more
comprehensive framework that explicitly incorporates geographical, ecological,
socioeconomic, and political considerations. It would be the moral and ethical duty of the
local people and government organization to protect the plant resources.
4. CONCLUSION
The study reveals that the natural floristic composition of the research area is dominated by
the therophytic flora. The herbaceous species are the major constituents of the naturally
occurring research flora. The Asteraceae and Poaceae constitute the dominant families of
the Sheikh Maltoon flora.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank all the informants who contributed to this study with their
knowledge and friendship. We are also grateful to the biological students and teachers of
Federal Government College Mardan for collecting information during study. The author is
also thankful to the anonymous referees whose suggestions have helped in improvement of
the manuscript.
COMPETING INTERESTS
The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.
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Annual Review & Research in Biology, 3(1): 31-41, 2013
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