Introduction of the Flora, Life Form, and Geographical Distribution, and Identification of the Medicinal Plants in South Khaveh Region (A Case Study: Northeast of Delfan county - Gareen Mountain Slopes)

This study was conducted on an area of about 3000 hectares in the northern slopes of the Gareen Mountain in the Northeast of Delfan County. Initially, the plant species observed in the region were collected during the growing season and the families, genera, and species of each were determined on the basis of the common plant taxonomy methods using different published flora and other identification resources. After that, the medicinal species and their used organs were identified. On the basis of the IUCN and Red data book of Iran, the conservational classes of each species were analyzed. The results indicated that the most important family forms with respect to the number of species are Poaceae with 24 species (15.78%), Asteraceae and Lamiaceae each of them with 23 species (15.13%), Brassicaceae with 20 species (13.16%), Fabaceae with 13 species (8.55%), and Apiaceae with 6 species (3.95%). The life form comprised: hemichryptophytes with 40.79%, Therophytes with 39.47%, Geophytes with 7.24%, Phanerophytes with 5.92%, Chamaephytes with 4.61%, and Cryptophytes 1.97%. The results of the geographical distribution of the plants in the region illustrated that the majority of the species (54.61%) belong to Irano-Touranian region. Out of the 152 identified plant species in this region, 75 species are medicinal and belong to 25 families, the most important of which are: Asteraceae with 16 species, Lamiaceae with 10 species, Fabaceae with 7 species, Poaceae with 6 species, and Apiaceae and Brassicaceae each with 5 species. Additionally, with the analysis of rare and endangered species, four conservational categories were identified. These included: LR or Low Risk (13 species), DD or Data Deficient (2 species), Vu or Vulnerable (1 species), and En or Endangered status (1 species).