Floristic study of five villages in Aladagh rural district in Bojnourd city, North Khorassan, Iran

The present research, a floristic study was executed on Imamverdy, Dartum, Ghapagh, Garivan and Niestaneh villages, located 30 km south of Bojnourd (North Khorassan province) with altitudinal range of 1442-1783 m. The present study aimed to identify the specimens, their possible medicinal properties, endemism and concervation status. For this purpose, the specimens were collected during March-November 2012 and identified using Flora of Iran and Flora Iranica. The results showed the presence of 133 species from 104 genera and 38 families, one species belonged to Gymnosperms and the rest, 132 species, belonged to Angiosperms, of which five families, 13 genera and 18 species were monocotyledons and 32 families, 90 genera and 114 species were dicotyledons.  Moreover, 40 species were found to have medicinal applications in the studied region. Fabaceae, Brassicaceae, Poaceae, Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were the largest families and Astragalus, Poa, Vicia and Euphorbia were reported as the largest genera in the region. Erysimum koelzii, Astragalus khoshjailensis, Eryngium bungei, Acanthophyllum pachystegium, Sclerorachis platyrachis, Taraxacum hydrophyllum were endemic species for Iran. Astragalus ackerbergensis was found to be in vulnerable status and Rubia florida, Mentha longifolia, Fumaria vaillanti and Onopordum carmanicum were found to be at low-risk status. The maximum and minimum percentages of chorotypes were related to Irano-Turanian with 68.14% and Irano-Turanian, Saharo-Arabian regions with 0.7%, respectively. The maximum and minimum percentage of life form were reported to be hemicryptophytes with 45.8% and cryptophytes with 3%, respectively. The results reflected the cold and arid climate and uncontrolled grazing in the studied region.