Analysis of wild medicinal vascular plant resources and diversity in Dabie Mountains, Anhui Province

Abstract

Dabie Mountains are located at the junction of Anhui, Henan and Hubei provinces in the East of China. With its varied altitude, climate, and soil texture, Dabie Mountains are extremely rich in wild plant resources. The 12th Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Resources Scientific Expedition Team of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University conducted a study on wild vascular plants resources, especially medicinal vascular plants, through field investigation, literature review and specimen identification. There were 472 species of vascular plants belonging to 347 genera and 125 families collected during July 2018 in this area, of which 424 species were medicinal vascular plants, accounting for 89.83% of the total. From the perspective of medicinal parts, most of the medicinal plants there have values in their roots and rhizomes, as well as the whole plants. The efficacy and characteristics of these pharmaceutical dimensions were also summarized and analyzed in detail. Besides, among the wild vascular plants collected, the most dominant families with the biggest numbers of species are Compositae, Lamiaceae, Liliaceae, Rosaceae, Leguminosae, Ranunculaceae, Saxifragaceae and Polygonaceae, and the dominant genus are Viola and Sedum. In terms of life form, perennial herbs are dominant, accounting for 55.72% of the total species, followed by some annual (or biennial) herbs, shrubs and lianas. Finally, recommendations are put forward for strengthening the protection and utilization of wild medicinal plant resources in Dabie Mountains.

Keywords

Dabie Mountains / medicinal vascular plant resources / plant diversity / medicinal use / protection and utilization

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mr. Dong Xiaoming and Mr. Xue Baizhong for their funding, and also thank all the scientific expedition members of the 12th Chinese Medicine Scientific Expedition Team of Shenyang Pharmaceutical University for their hard work.

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