Floristic Composition and Ecological Characteristics (Life Form, Leaf Size and Plant Habit) of the Vascular Flora of Gokand Valley, District Buner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The present research has explored the floristic composition and ecological characteristics (life form, leaf size and plant habit) of the previously unexplored vascular flora of Gokand Valley Distric Buner. The present resaerch revealed that a total of 344 vascular species belonging to 106 families are growing in the valley. These include 12 pteridophytes, 3 gymnosperms and 329 angiosperms. The dicotyledons were represented by 81 families with 283 species while monocotyledons by 15 families and 46 species. Based on the number of species Poaceae with 25 species was the dominant family followed by Asteraceae with 24, Lamiaceae with 19, Papilionaceae and Rosaceae with 15 each, Brassicaceae with 13, Amaranthaceae with 11, Solanaceae with 10, Polygonaceae and Plantaginaceae with 8 each, Moraceae with 7, Cucurbitaceae and Euphorbiaceae with 6 each, Apiaceae, Malvaceae, Nyctaginaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rhamnaceae, Urticaceae with 5 species each were the major families. Remaining families either included 4 or less than 4 species. There were 224 (65.11%) species of herbs, 58 (16.86%) of trees and 46 (13.37%) of shrubs while climbers were represented by 16 species (4.65%). Life form showed that Therophytes with (146 species) was the dominant class followed by Megaphanerophyte (56 spp.), Nanophanerophyte (56 spp.), Geophyte (36 spp.), Hemicryptophyte (25 spp.), Chamaephyte (16 spp.) and Microphanerophyte (6 spp.) respectively. The dominant leaf size class was Microphyll (146 spp.) followed by Nanophyll (91 spp.), Mesophyll (59 spp.), Leptophyll (29 spp.) and Macrophyll (12 spp.) respectively. Psilotum nudum (L.) P. Beauv., Cuscuta reflexa Roxb., Equisetum arvense L. and Opuntia dilleni Haw. were aphyllous species. The findings of the present research will provide baseline information for future research endeavors in the filed of plant taxonomy, ecology and conservation studies.