Floristic Diversity, Biological Spectrum And Phenology Of The Vascular Plants Of Daudzai Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

During the present research study a comprehenvie floristic list of previously unexplored area of Daudzai, District Peshawar, Pakistan was prepared. The biological spectrum and phonological studies were aslo carried out. For this purpose, continuous field visits were conducted from February 2019 to April 2020. A total of 564 vascular species of 118 families were recorded. Pteridophytes were represented by 6 species belonging to 6 families. Gymnosperms were represented by four families having 6 species. Monocotyledons were represented by 133 species distributed in 22 families. Dicotyledons were having 419 species belonging to 86 families. Poaceae was the dominant family with 59 species, followed by Asteraceae with 51 species. Among the toltal 564 species 199 species were cultivated, 355 species were wild, while 10 species were present in both wild and cultivated status. Herbs were dominant with 399 species followed by shrub with 78 species, trees with 72 species and climber with 15 species. Based on their presence in different seasons, 431 plant species were present in spring, 393 species in summer, 252 species were present in autumn and 218 species were present in winter. The life form spectra showed that therophytes were dominant with 260 species, followed by nanophanerophytes with 81 species. The leaf size spectra showed that microphyll were dominant in the area with 270 species, followed by nanophylls with 128 species. During the present study two species i.e., Melochia corchorifolia L. and Soliva anthemifolia (Juss.) Sweet were reported for the first time from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. While a habitat specific species Eulophia hormusjii Duthie. of family Orchidaceae was also reported.