Botany of Mt. Saramati and its Environs

Abstract

The paper gives a brief account of botany of Mt. Saramati in Nagaland, India which represents the state's highest mountain peak (3841m), the remotest and the botanically unexplored area. A brief note on topography, geology, climate and vegetation together with a comprehensive analysis of the floristic compositions of the vegetation types and is followed by enumeration of the species of angiosperms and gymnosperms. Analysis of the species collected established the following five families as the richest ones on the basis of the number of the species. Orchidaceae (25), Poaceae (24), Asteraceae (17), Ericaceae (13), Cyperaceae (9). These together represent about 40% of the total number of species collected.

All the species recorded in this paper, except Deyeuxia pulchella (Griseb.) Hook. f. (Poaceae) are new additions to the Kanjilal's Herbarium (ASSAM) from the area. There is also no record of any representation of plant species from there by Clarke (1886, 1889), Hooker (1872-97), Kanjilal et al. (1934-40), Bor (1942), Jamir and Rao (1088). The present paper, therefore, represents the first source of information regarding botany of the Mt. Saramati.