Floristic Study of the Cypress (Cupressus Sempervirens L.) Habitat in Firoozabad (Fars Province)

The cypress habitat of Firoozabad in Fars province is one of the valuable reserves of cypress tree (Cupressus sempervirence) in Iran. The climate of this habitat is semi-arid with an average annual rainfall of 434.8 mm and an average annual temperature of 20.6 degrees Celsius. Flora, life form, geographical distribution, and medicinal species of this habitat were studied in the present work. Identification of the collected specimens was done using the relevant references. As a result, 238 species belonging to 188 genera and 61 families were identified in the area. Asteraceae with 42 species and 33 genera and Astragalus with seven species are the largest family and genus in this region, respectively. Therophytes with 45 percent and hemicryptophytes with 25 percent were the most frequent life forms in the flora of Firoozabad cypress habitat. Geographical distribution of the species includes 38 percent Iran-Turanian, 28 percent bi-regional (Irano-Turanian, Mediterranean; Irano-Turanian, Euro-Siberian and Irano-Turanian, Saharo-Sindian), 14 percent tri-regional (Irano-Turanian, Euro-Siberian, Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian, Saharo-Sindian, Mediterranean), 3 percent multi-regional and 5 percent cosmopolite elements. Twenty-eight species (12 percent) in this habitat are endemic for Iran. In addition, 26 species used as medicinal plants.