A Contribution to the Flora of Pachmarhi (Madhya Pradesh)

Pachmarhi, a popular hill station of Madhya Pradesh, having in it the highest hill top (Dhupgarh) of central India, presents very interesting features in its flora. It has received attention by several botanists due to its popularity and importance from floristic point of view and a number of contributions to the flora were made by them (Gamble 1892, Graham 1914-15, Pandey & Srivastava 1952, Rao & Narayanaswamy 1960, Kapoor & Yadav 1962 and others). The present paper records 304 species of flowering plants and ferns, which are reported for the first time from Pachmarhi. Sixteen species are new records for Madhya Pradesh (marked by single asterisk) and twelve for central India (marked by double asterisk). The species, of which previous record was found to be based on wrong identifications have been excluded from the flora, namely Fimbristylis podocarpa Nees & Meyen, Arthraxon serrulatus Hochst., Arundinella nepalensis Trin., Eragrostis nutans (Retz.) Nees ex Steud., Sporobolus elongatus R. Br. and Tripogon pauperculus Stapf.