The present study described the occurrence of woody species and its usage inMaruthamalai Hills of the southern Western Ghats. A total of 119 species were collected ofwhich one individual categorized as gymnosperm and the remaining 118 individualscategorized as an angiosperms. Among the life habit the trees are the dominant species (86)other than shrubs (28) and lianas (5). The Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, Caesalpiniaceae andBignoniaceae are the dominant families of woody flora of the Maruthamalai Hills. Theimportance of recording the usage of plants in this region is imperative because of rapid lossof forest wealth and traditional wisdom. In view of the various resources use, habitatuniqueness and anthropological pressure on the forest resources, the need for conservation isstressed

Rajendran, A.

Sarvalingam, A.

Sivalingam, R

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 Research in Plant Biology, 2(1): 07-14, 2012                                                               ISSN : 2231-5101 www.resplantbiol.com      Regular Article Documentary of Woody flora and its usage in  Maruthamalai Hills of the Southern Western Ghats of Coimbatore district, India  Sarvalingam, A., Rajendran, A and Sivalingam, R*  Department of Botany, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore- 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India *Corresponding author E-mail: drsivar@gmail.com   The present study described the occurrence of woody species and its usage in Maruthamalai Hills of the southern Western Ghats. A total of 119 species were collected of which one individual categorized as gymnosperm and the remaining 118 individuals categorized as an angiosperms. Among the life habit the trees are the dominant species (86) other than shrubs (28) and lianas (5). The Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, Caesalpiniaceae and Bignoniaceae are the dominant families of woody flora of the Maruthamalai Hills. The importance of recording the usage of plants in this region is imperative because of rapid loss of forest wealth and traditional wisdom. In view of the various resources use, habitat uniqueness and anthropological pressure on the forest resources, the need for conservation is stressed.     Keywords: Woody flora, Maruthamalai hills, Western Ghats, India   Woody species are natural asset of immense nature to any country. They have been listed into broad groups, under pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms. Based on the habit the woody species have been categories in to three types; trees, shrubs and woody climbers. They are not only preserve the physical feature of the earth, prevent soil erosion, mitigate floods but make the streams flow permeably and help in sustaining river flows.  They provide shelter to wild life and support the biological chain. Trees, shrubs and climbers cover helps in maintenance of ecological balance of nature (Bennic et.al. 2008).  Besides woody species meet the seeds of timber, fuel, medicines and edible products which are indispensable require meats of human beings.  Plant diversity inventories in tropical forests have mostly been concentrated on trees species than the others life forms, because tree species diverse is an important aspects of forest ecosystem (Rannals & Laumonter 2000) and also fundamental to total tropical forest diversity (Huang et. al., 2003).  The present study has been undertaken with the aim of recording the details of various woody plants used by the Irulars tribal and local inhabitants of Maruthamalai Hills, Tamil Nadu. The Irulas tribal still derives their daily need from various plants growing around them. The large part of such information is passed orally  Sarvalingam et al. / Research in Plant Biology, 2(1): 07-14, 2012  8  from one generation to another. So, it is desirable to collect and need to document such information for proper scientific evaluation.   STUDY AREA The study area Maruthamalai Hills consists of an environment of mixed dry deciduous type of forest at an altitude of 450 MSL, 11.04’E of longitude and 76.93’N latitude (Figure 1). The area has a predominant red soil impregnated with organic matter, and granite, bed rock is overlaid with shallow, sandy loam, and glacial soils are moderate to well drained. Temperature begins increasing after March and April is the hottest month with a near daily maximum temperature of 38.2ºC and maximum of 25-6 ºC.     Figure 1. A View of Maruthamalai Hills  MATERIALS AND METHODS Several intensive and extensive field trips were conducted throughout the study area at regular intervals from 2009 - 2010.  The study is based on extensive survey and field observations as a part of quantitative inventory of all woody species ≥ 10 cm gbh in the study area, data on various usages of woody species by the Irulars tribe and other local aged inhabitants were gathered. The plant specimens were collected in flowering and fruiting stage for preservation as herbarium specimens based on the standard instructions (Santappau 1955; Jain & Rao 1976; Rao & Sharma 1990). All the plant specimens collected during these surveys were identified with help of various local floras (Gamble 1915- 1936; Matthew 1971; Chandrabose & Nair 1998). Further their identification was confirmed at Madras Herbarium (MH) of Botanical Survey of India, Southern circle, Coimbatore. Voucher specimens are deposited in the Herbarium of Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore.   Sarvalingam et al. / Research in Plant Biology, 2(1): 07-14, 2012  9  RESULT AND DISCUSSION The present study on woody species of Maruthamalai Hills, Coimbatore, and Tamil Nadu has brought out a detailed survey, collection and documentation yielded 86- trees, 28-shrubs and 5- woody climbers were spreading over 88-genera and 37 families (Table 1).  Fig. 2: Analysis of Life forms  In order to infer the dominant families, an analysis were made and found that, out of 37 families, Fabaceae is the first dominant family with 17 species, Mimosaceae is the second dominant family with 14 species, Caesalpiniaceae is the third dominant family with 11 species other dominant families such as Bignoniaceae (10 species), Moraceae (7 species), Euphorbiaceae (5 Species), then Malvaceae, Myrtaceae, Rubiaceae and Apocynaceae having 4 species each. The present study has resulted in collection of 119 species of trees and shrubs. Out of these 86 individual belongs to trees, 28 individual belongs to shrubs and 5 individuals are climbers. This indicates that the trees are more dominant than shrubs and woody climbers (Fig. 2).    The 86 tree species are coming under 61 genera. Among the 61 tree genera Acacia and Ficus are first dominant genera each having 6 species. Cassia is the second dominant genera with 4 species, followed by Tabebuia and Plumeria having 3 and 2 species respectively. All other genera had one species each.  Among 23 genera of shrubs, the genus like Sida, Crotalaria, Barleria, and Ixora having 2 species each and rest of the genera had one species each. Among 5 genera of woody climbers, the genera like Toddalia, Jasminum, Tylophora, Bauhinia, Phyllanthus, and Canavalia having each 1species. Most of the woody species used as medicine, gum yielding, timber value, edible and ornamental purposes by Irulars tribe and local inhabitants of Maruthamalai hills.  Table 1. Diversity and distribution of woody species in Maruthamalai Hills of the Southern Western Ghats, Coimbatore Sl. No Botanical name Family Distribution Uses  Tree species    1 Michelia champaca L, Magnoliaceae Uncommon Used in religious ceremonies  2 Annona squamosa L. Annonaceae Common Fruit edible and leaf paste is used to remove lice of cattle. 3 Polyalthia longifolia Sonn. Annonaceae      Common Used in ornamental 4 Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol  Malvaceae Common Used in ornamental and paste of bark and fruit applied on wounds and boils. 5 Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn. Bombacaceae Common Used in ornamental 6 Helicteres isora L. Sterculiaceae Rare Ripe fruit and stem bark is employed in dysentery and diarrhoea. Trees72%Shrubs24%Climbers4% Sarvalingam et al. / Research in Plant Biology, 2(1): 07-14, 2012  10  7 Muntingia calabura L. Elaeocarpaceae Common Used in ornamental. 8 Guaiacum officinale L. Zygophyllaceae Un common Used in ornamental. 9 Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng. Rutaceae Common Leaves used in flavouring food preparation. 10 Azadirachta indica Juss. Meliaceae Common Fresh leaves are fired and its smoke used as mosquito repellent. 11 Melia azedirachta L. Meliaceae Common Paste of leaves is applied on boils and wounds. 12 Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. Rhamnaceae Common Fruits edibles. 13 Ziziphus oenoplia L. Rhamnaceae Common Fruits edibles 14 Filicium decipiens (Wight&Arn.) Thw. Sapindaceae Common Used in ornamental 15 Majidea zanquebarica        Sapindaceae Common Used in ornamental 16 Mangifera indica L. Annacardiaceae Common Edible and fresh seed paste is said to be dysentery if taken twice a day for seven days. 17 Moringa pterygosperma Gaertn Moringaceae Common Juice of cooked fruits is also employed in diabetes. 18 Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. Fabaceae Common Used in ornamental. 19 Mundulea sericea (Willd.) A. Chev. Fabaceae Rare Used in ornamental 20 Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre, Fabaceae Common Oil from seed is applied to cure scabies. 21 Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. Fabaceae Rare Timber yielding  22 Pterocarpus santalinus L.f.  Fabaceae Common Timber yielding 23 Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Poir. Fabaceae Uncommon Leaves used as vegetables and leaves used as fodder. 24 Bauhinia purpurea L. Caesalpiniaceae Common Used in ornamental 25 Cassia fistula L. Caesalpiniaceae Common Bark extract used as dysentery and used in ornamental 26 Cassia siamea Lam. Caesalpiniaceae Common Used in ornamental 27 Cassia roxburghii DC. Caesalpiniaceae Common Used in ornamental 28 Cassia spectabilis.DC. Caesalpiniaceae Un common Used in ornamental 29 Delonix regia (Boj.ex Hook.) Raf. Caesalpiniaceae Common Used in ornamental 30 Peltophorum pterocarpum DC. Caesalpiniaceae Common Timber yielding. 31 Tamarindus indica L. Caesalpiniaceae Common Fruit edible and wood used for fuel. 32 Acacia auriculiformis A.Cunn.  Mimosaceae Common Juice of flowers is used are joint pain and rheumatisms. 33 Acacia ferruginea DC. Mimosaceae Common Gum yielding. 34 Acacia holosericea Mimosaceae Common Used in ornamental 35 Acacia leucophloea (Roxb) Willd. Mimosaceae Common Bark used in the distillation of sprit and gum yielding. 36 Acacia lenticularis Buch. Mimosaceae Un common Gum yielding 37 Acacia planifrons Wight & Arn. Mimosaceae Un common Gum yielding 38 Adenanthera pavonina L. Mimosaceae Rare Leaves used as dysentery. 39 Albizia lebbeck (L.) Willd. Mimosaceae Common Gum yielding. 40 Albizia odoratissima (L.f.) Benth. Mimosaceae Common Gum yielding. 41  Dichrostachys cinerea Mimosaceae Common   Sarvalingam et al. / Research in Plant Biology, 2(1): 07-14, 2012  11  (L.)Wight & Arn. The flowers can be a valuable source of honey. 42 Parkia biglandulosa Wight & Arm. Mimosaceae  Common  Used in ornamental. 43 Pithecellobium dulce (Roxb.)B & H. Mimosaceae Non common Fruits edible 44 Prosopis chilensis (Molina) Stuntz Mimosaceae Common Gum yielding and leaves applied on swellings, boils and wounds. 45  Samanea saman (Jacq.) Merr. Mimosaceae Common Used in ornamental 46 Terminalia catappa L. Combretaceae Un Common Used in ornamental and fruits edible. 47 Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) Staf. Myrtaceae Un common Used in ornamental. 48 Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm. Myrtaceae Common The leaves are used in  The production of cineole based eucalyptus oil. 49 Psidium guajava L. Myrtaceae Common Fruits edible 50 Syzygium cumini (L.)Skeels. Myrtaceae Un common Fruits edible and timber yielding 51 Canthium parviflorum Lam. Rubiaceae Un common Roots and Leaves Plant uses in diarrhoea, fever, leucorrhoea, and general debility.  52  Morinda pubescens Buch. Rubiaceae Common Fruits edible. 53  Manilkara zapota (L.) P. Royen. Sapotaceae Un common Fruits edible 54 Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L. Nyctanthaceae Un common Ornamental and leaf juice is given to cure fever. 55 Plumeria alba L Apocynaceae Common Used in ornamental 56 Plumeria rubra L Apocynaceae Common Used in ornamental 57 Wrightia tinctoria, R.Br. Apocynaceae Common Gum yielding.  58 Cordia sebestena L Boraginaceae Un common Used in ornamental 59 Crescentia cujete L. Bignoniaceae Un common Used in ornamental 60 Jacaranda mimosifolia D. Bignoniaceae Un common Used in ornamental 61 Kigelia africana (Jacq.) DC. Bignoniaceae Un common Used in ornamental 62 Markhamia platycalyx Bignoniaceae Un common Used in ornamental 63 Millingtonia hortensis L.f. Bignoniaceae Common Used in ornamental 64 Spathodea campanulata P.Beauv. Bignoniaceae Common Used in ornamental 65 Tecoma stans (L.) Kunth. Bignoniaceae Common Used in ornamental 66 Tabebuia aurea ( Manso) B & H. Bignoniaceae Non common Used in ornamental 67 Tabebuia pallida (Lndl.) Miers. Bignoniaceae Non common Used in ornamental. 68 Tabebuia rosea Berol. Bignoniaceae Common Used in ornamental. 69 Gmelina arborea Roxb. Verbenaceae Un common Ripe dried fruits are employed in urticaria, tosiemia and worms. 70 Vitex negundo L. Verbenaceae Un common Leaves used on boils and swellings. 71 Tectona grandis L. Verbenaceae Common Timber yielding. 72 Santalum album L. Santalaceae Common Timber yielding and wood is used to cure boils. 73 Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels. Euphourbiaceae Un common Fruits edible. 74 Phyllanthus emblica L. Euphourbiaceae Un common Fruits edible  Sarvalingam et al. / Research in Plant Biology, 2(1): 07-14, 2012  12  75 Casuarina litorea L. Casurinaceae Un common Timber yielding 76 Holoptelea integerifolia (Roxb.) Planch. Ulmaceae Common Timber yielding and bark used as relive joint pains. 77 Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. Moraceae Common Edible and dye yielding 78 Ficus amplissma J.E.Sm. Moraceae Common Fruit is used in dysentery. 79 Ficus benghalensis L. Moraceae Common Fruits edible and root twigs are used as tooth brush. 80 Ficus elastica Roxb. Moraceae Non common Used in ornamental. 81 Ficus microcarpa L.f. Moraceae Common     Fruits edible. 82 Ficus hispida L.f. Moraceae Common  Bark used as remedy to treat diabetes. 83 Ficus religiosa L. Moraceae Common     The bark boil in hot water and the extract is given orally to the Diabetic person. 84 Cycas circinalis L. Cycadaceae Common     Used in ornamental. 85 Borassus flabellifer L. Arecaceae Non common The decoction of roots of young plant is given in urinary infections.  86 Cocos nucifera L. Arecaceae Common    Fruits edible  Shrub species    1 Hibiscus lunariifolius Wild. Malvaceae Common Stem used as cure fever. 2 Sida cordifolia L. Malvaceae Common Decoction of leaves and seeds in employed in asthma and cough. 3 Sida rhombifolia L. Malvaceae Common Stem/ bark used as fever, diuretic, gonorrhoea. 4 Dodonaea viscosa L.  Sapindaceae Common Paste of leaves is applied on cuts, wounds and scabies. 5 Alysicarpus heterophyllus Baker. Fabaceae Rare - 6 Crotalaria pallida Dryand Fabaceae Common stem fibber is used as a material for thread. 7 Crotalaria retusa L. Fabaceae Common Used as Food and Drink. 8 Desmodium laxiflorum DC. Fabaceae Non common Used in aggressively in agriculture as part of the push-pull technology.  9 Indigofera longeracemosa Boiv. Fabaceae Common - 10 Macrotyloma ciliatum Willd. Fabaceae Non common - 11 Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae  Non common Seeds made in to past form and applied on sores, swellings boils. 12 Tephrosia hookeriana Wight & Arn. Fabaceae Common - 13 Bauhinia tomentosa L. Caesalpinaceae Common Root and bark used in intestinal complaints. 14 Cassia absus L. Caesalpiniaceae Common Used in ornamental. 15 Caesalpinia pulcherrima L. Caesalpiniaceae Common Used in ornamental. 16 Ixora coccinea L. Rubiaceae Common Used in ornamental 17 Ixora finalysoniana Wall. Rubiaceae Common Used in ornamental 18 Calotropis gigantea L. Asclepiadaceae Common Leaves are used to cure tooth pain. 19 Nerium oleander L. Apocynaceae Common Used in ornamental 20 Solanum surattense Burm.f. Solanaceae Common Decoction of whole plant is given in asthma and cough. 21 Barleria buxifolia L. Acanthaceae Common Roots and leaves used in stomach  Sarvalingam et al. / Research in Plant Biology, 2(1): 07-14, 2012  13  ache, tonic and febrifuge. 22 Barleria cuspidata Heyne Acanthaceae Common - 23 Lantana camara L. Verbenaceae Common Ripe fruit is edible and ornamental. 24 Anisomeles malabarica L. Lamiaceae Common The plant is stimulated. Expectorant and diaphoretic.  25 Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd. Nyctaginaceae Common Used in ornamental 26 Euphorbia cyathophora Murr. Euphourbiaceae Common Used in ornamental. 27 Ricinus communis L. Euphourbiaceae Common Latex of the plants is used in skin disease.  28 Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir. Euphourbiaceae Uncommon The root is used to make a dark brown to black dye and is often used to colour fishing lines.  Lianas species    1 Bauhinia vahlii Wight & Arn. Caesalpiniaceae   Uncommon Stem fibre is used to make rope and leaves for shatter. 2 Canavalia gladiata (Jacq.) DC. Fabaceae Uncommon Fruits Edible. 3 Tylophora indica (Burm.f.) Merr. Asclepiadaceae Uncommon Leaves are employed in asthma, whooping cough and bronchitis. 4 Toddalia asiatica (L.) Lam. Rutaceae Common Fruit is used by massai as a cough remedy. 5 Jasminum auriculatum Vahl. Oleaceae Common Flowers used as Fragrant.   Conclusion Recently, the efforts of biodiversity on ecosystem process have received much attention because of the growing concern that loss of biodiversity may impair ecosystem functioning.  Some of the threatened factors like fast rate of biotic interference, destruction of natural habitat by human interference, cutting of trees and shrubs for construction purpose and unsustainable utilization of resources may adversely affect the existing diversity of both trees and shrubs of study area. From the conservational angle, the data presented here provide a basis for future studies on this ecosystem in general. In view of various resources use, habitat uniqueness and human pressure of the forest resources the need for conservation of Maruthamalai hills.   References Ara, S. & A. R. Naqshi (1991). Ipomoea quamoclit Linn. (Convolvulaceae)- A tropical climber in temperate Kashmir. Journal of  Economic and Taxonomy Botany (15): 471-472. Aravind Singh, (2010). Woody species composition of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Journal of Non- timber Forest Product (17): 453-472. Bennie, J., B. Huntley, A. Wiltshire, M. O. Hill & R. Baxter (2008). 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Documentary of Woody flora and its usage in Maruthamalai Hills of the Southern Western Ghats of Coimbatore district, India

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Documentary of Woody flora and its usage in Maruthamalai Hills of the Southern Western Ghats of Coimbatore district, India

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