Floristic composition and plant functional types on the lateritic plateau of Panchgani Tableland, Maharashtra, India

The conservation zone of Panchgani Tableland lies within the Mahabaleshwar Panchgani Eco-sensitive Zone, Satara District, Maharashtra, India, in northern Western Ghats. The present paper reports 189 species across 54 families recorded throughout the year on this lateritic plateau. The most represented family is Poaceae, and it also shows the highest endemism (nine taxa). During the study, 78 endemic taxa were recorded, which makes up to 48% endemism. A total of 12 threatened taxa have been recorded during the study, of which four are ‘Endangered’ (Dipcadi ursulae var. ursulae Blatt., Curcuma caulina (J.Graham) Baker, Iphigenia stellata Blatt., and Isachne swaminathanii V.Prakash & S.K.Jain), two are ‘Vulnerable’ (Eriocaulon tuberiferum A.R.Kulkarni & Desai, Utricularia albocaerulea Dalzell) and six are ‘Near Threatened’ (Arisaema murrayi (J.Graham) Hook., Euphorbia khandallensis Blatt. & Hallb., Habenaria grandifloriformis Blatt. & McC., Pinda concanensis (Dalzell) P.K.Mukh. & Constance, Utricularia praeterita P. Taylor, and Vigna khandalensis (Santapau) Sundararagh. & Wadhwa). Though a large number of species are therophytes (73.4%), 12.5% of the taxa are geophytes, and 4.7% are carnivorous. Remaining taxa belong to other plant functional types viz. helophytes, hydrophytes, succulents, hemiparasites, and epiphytes. The study also explored the impact of anthropogenic pressures such as tourism, grazing, and soil alteration that threaten the diversity on the plateau. A comparison with floristic data by Blatter (1909) revealed the absence of 12 taxa in the existing vegetation, including the two rare species Adelocaryum malabaricum (C.B.Clarke) Brand., and Smithia purpurea Hook., and recorded another 129 species that were not recorded earlier.