Abstract

STUDY OF VEGETATION AND THEIR MEDICINAL PROPERTIES INSIDE THE HOLY CROSS COLLEGE CAMPUS, TIRUCHIRAPPALLI DISTRICT, TAMILNADU, INDIA

*Elavarasi Siddhaiyan, Horne Iona Averal, Hemasri Devadoss, Rajeswari Muruga,
Gunavathi Gnanasekar and Mogana Jothi Moorthi

Abstract

The present study was aimed at determining the vegetation of an urbangreen-space- the Holy Cross College campus, Trichy and identify themedicinal properties of the plants. For this, the field survey was madefrom December 2016 – February 2017. The data from the surveyresulted in the documentation of 56 species belonging to 55 generaunder 36 families. Arecaceae and Lamiaceae were the dominantfamilies. The represented plant is dominated by tree 55.4%, Shrubs23.2%, herbs 17.8%, and climber 3.6%, respectively. Totally, therecorded vegetation comprises of 56 species (includes 31 trees, 13shrubs, 10 herbs and 2 climbers). Shannon-Weiner index was observedas 3.286. Other than these plants, several ornamental plants and a grassland is maintained inside the campus. Considering the rapidly changingurban land use in the city, much attention should be paid towards the conservation of thesegreen spaces, for which the present study provide baseline data.

Keywords: vegetation, college campus, medicinal properties, ornamental plants, conservation.