Biodiversity scenario of lower hills of Baikunthpur (Dist.-Koria) Chhattisgarh (INDIA) with special reference to medicinal plants

The state of Chhattisgarh has about 44% of its geographical area covered with forests. The Koria district in Chhattisgarh lies between 22°58’ to 23°49’ North latitudes and 81°33’ to 82°45’ East longitude. The average rainfall is 121.36 cm. The forest area is 81.23% of total district area. The district Koria has a very rich flora exhibiting diversity especially of medicinal plants. There is no comprehensive description of the flora as well as vascular cryptogames of the district that is available in some plant species which are on the verge of extinction. Keeping these points in view, the present investigation has been planned. The present paper deals with diversity of the medicinal plants of the district and their ecological status. Vegetational analysis revealed some interesting observations on phytosociological characters. Shanon index of general diversity was calculated for tree shrub and herb layers. It was 4.21637 for trees, 4.6357 for shrubs and 4.8298 for herbs. Total of 108 angiospermic plant species of medicinal importance were found distributed in 46 dicot and 10 monocot families. Two medicinally important pteridophytes have also been reported.   Key words: Diversity, medicinal plants, phytosociology, Koria district.