Systematic Studies on Angiospermic Flora of Virudhu Nagar Hills

Floristic study is a pre-requisite for understanding the biological wealth of a particular region and is not yet complete in parts of India. The systematic botany or botanical exploration carried out for a period of over four years in Virudhunagar district hills has resulted in the collection of 4500 specimens. These specimens belong to a total of 739 species in 451 genera spread across 134 families. The richness and diversity of the flora in Virudhunagar hills have always fascinated the inquisitive biologists. The forests of Virudhunagar hills are considered to be an inestimable reservoir of timbers of diverse kinds. It is evident from the investigation that the hills are facing threats in varied extent. Since tropical rain forests as a whole experience rapid decline as a world natural resource, Virudhunagar hills must be regarded as a prime example of this ecosystem in South India. The complexity and greater diversity of flora make these hills an important gene pool for future use and should be preserved at any cost.