Ecological study of wild medicinal plants in a dry tropical peri-urban region of Uttar Pradesh in India

Medicinal plants and knowledge of their use provide a vital combination to human and livestock health care throughout the world. The present study focused on investigating the structure of medicinal weeds in an anthropogenic peri-urban region and its relationship belowground (seed bank) and aboveground (standing vegetation). The phytosociological study of vegetation was carried out by quadrat method in different seasons and seed bank study was done by seedling emergence method. The number of plant species in standing vegetation was much higher (76 belonging to 32 families) compared to seed bank (38 species distributed over 15 families). The top dominants differed in the field and seed bank. Medicinal properties of plants were also described.