Floristic study of the Badrud north region, Isfahan province

The present study is a floristic inventory of the north of Badrud region which investigated species composition، plant life spectra as well as chrological analysis of the region. This desert is located 30 km north of Natanz، with the elevation ranging from 946 m to 1021 m. It has two major land forms including a sand and gravel plain which is partly covered with sand dunes. A total of 63 species representing 49 genera and 15 families were recorded among which 11 belonged to monocotyledons and 52 to dicotyledones. They mostly belonged to the Asteraceae (22. 2%)، Chenopodiaceae (19. 0%)، Poaceae (15. 9%)، Brassicaceae (14. 3%) and Boraginaceae (9. 5%) families. The largest genera were Astragalus، Salsola، Seidlitzia and Stipagrostis، each one representing 3 species. Therophytes (63%) were the dominant life-form followed by hemicryptophytes (14%). Chamaephytes (9. 52%) and phanerophytes (7. 93%). Chrological analysis showed 60. 32% uniregional elements (57. 14% of which were Irano-Turanian)، 25. 5% bi-regional، 11. 11% tri-regional and 3. 17% cosmopolitan elements. Three species including Pterochaenia stewartii، Reicharidia orientalis and Silene arenosa were identified in this region which were recorded for the first time in Isfahan province.