Medicinal Plant Resources of Puttaparthi Mandal: Taxonomic Overview and Need for Conservation

Puttaparthi Mandal is situated to the south of Anantapur town in the Sri Sathya Sai taluk of Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. A broad taxonomic overview of the medicinal flora of Puttaparthi Mandal is presented herein – 185 medicinal plant species are distributed among 132 genera and 55 families in this region. These resources are under threat due to over exploitation by the local people for firewood, fodder, medicinal plants, reclamation of forest land for agriculture purpose, urbanization and heavy incidence of grazing. If steps for proper conservation and management of plants are not taken in near future these resources may be lost forever