The floristic research is a record of every species of plant found in a specific geographic area (Simpson, 2006). Floristic diversity of an area is directly linked to the kinds of life-forms and functional groups of plants found there. This includes classifying plants as woody or herbaceous and as monocots or dicots. Further the presence and variety of groups like pteridophytes, bryophytes, lichens and orchids play a role in shaping this diversity (Peet, 1978; Bhattarai and Veetas, 2003; Jacobsen and Jacobsen, 1989; Bhattarai et al., 2004a; Kluge et al., 2006; Grau et al., 2007, Baniya et al., 2010; Acharya et al., 2011). The floristic diversity of the local or regional area must be studied because it is essential for several reasons, including the counting of plants, updating scientific nomenclature, recording changes in ecological conditions, adding herbarium specimens to the herbaria already in place, and figuring out what kinds of flora resources need to be managed and where they are found (Raghubanshi & Singh, 2003; Chalise et al., 2018). The vast and distinctive floristic diversity of Nepal was first explored and documented as early as 1802, by FB Hamilton from 1802 to 1803, N Wallich, from 1820 to 1821 and D Don during 1825.

The country covers about 0.15% of global land area, but harbors 3.2% of the world’s flora (Kharel and Dhungana, 2018). The country’s 118 Ecosystems harbor over 2% of the flowering plants, 3% of the pteridophytes and 6% of the bryophytes in the world’s flora (Paudel et al., 2012). Nepal is a gallery of angiosperms counting 5309 species, gymnosperms counting 26 species, bryophytes counting 1213 species with pteridophytes counting 583species out of which 1614 have been recognized as MAPs- medicinal and aromatic plants (Rajbhandary et al., 2020). Every species, or taxonomic unit, whose distribution is limited to a single, constrained geographic area is referred to as an endemism (Good, 1974; Gaston, 1991). The department of plant resources under Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Environment, in an updated information reported that Nepal is home to 312 endemic species of flowering plants. These species are distributed across 46 families and 126 genera (Rajbhandari and Rai, 2017; Tiwari et al., 2019). The IUCN Red List guidelines and criteria consist of eight categories viz. extinct (EX), extinct in the wild (EW), critically endangered (CR), endangered (EN), vulnerable (VU), near threatened (NT), least concern (LC) or data deficient (DD) established by IUCN standards and Petition Committee (IUCN, 2019; Ronsted et al., 2022). Nepal officially joined the party on June 18, 1975, and the agreement came into effect on September 16, 1975 (Joshi et al., 2017). In Nepal, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) provides protection for several plant species.

Research frequently indicates a mid-altitude peak in species richness (Rahbek, 2005). Locally in Nepal, this pattern has been specifically studied in relation to vascular plant and fern species, with analysis focusing on how their richness varies across different elevations. The mid-hill regions of Nepal are home to a wide variety of plant species, with this range (1500-2500m) having the highest species richness (Vetaas & Grytness, 2002). Therefore, comprehensive floristic inventory and ecological exploration are crucial to assessing the effectiveness of the natural forest's conservation efforts to maintain biological equilibrium and meet forest requirements (Dangol & Shivakoti, 2001).

This study aims to enumerate mostly vascular plants along with other surrounding plants present around the hills of Rangbhang- Bhaisegaunda located in the Syangja district. The identification of some plant species was made using advanced intelligence technology.

Preliminary study of finding study sites, selecting sampling of the plant species along with the information of local flora were carried out during April 7–10, 2024. The second visit was conducted during May 7–10, 2025, and all the necessary data were collected. The plant was identified by direct observation. The local name was noted along with the photograph of the plant. The herb was collected by the whole plant body but only a part of the plant was collected in the case of shrubs and trees along with required field notes. The Specimen’s collection was based on ethical values. Herbarium was pressed with herbaria including cardboard, newspaper and blotting paper sheets following the methods of Bridson and Forman (2014). It was finally dried and mounted on an herbarium sheet of standard size with a glue stick and labeled then deposited in ASCOL Herbarium. The two major community forests, Simrik Community Forest and Barahi Community Forest were taken into consideration wherever possible to observe the richness of the species besides the major areas of the study. Some of the species which are identified earlier were listed from the local correspondence. Further information was acquired through online information on herbaria viz. www.plants.jstor.org, www.floraofnepal.org, www.efloras.org, powo.science.kew.org, www.catalogueoflife.org, www.ipni.org, www.plantdatabase.kath.gov.np, www.herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk, www.iplant.cn, www.worldfloraonline.org, www.jircas.go.jp, www.theplantlist.org, www.iucnredlist.org and so on.

The specimens were identified with the help of experts and authentic literature and the unidentified specimens were identified with the help of nomenclature and author citation of plant species followed by the International Plant Name Index (https://www.ipni.org/). The nomenclature of each species was validated after using the latest taxonomic literature (Press et al., 2000). The collected plant specimens were identified using relevant taxonomic literature: Hooker (1872–1897), Malla et al., (1986), Press et al., (2000), Raskoti (2009) and Akiyama et al., (2011). The collected data was analyzed using MS Excel. Plants with botanical names, habits, altitudinal range and families were listed on the sheet. For the nomenclature and author citation of plant species, and ‘The Plant List’ (www.theplantlist.org) were followed. The use of practical plant identification by James Cullen and plant identification terminology by James G. Harris & Melinda Woolf Harris was most approachable for most of the specimen identification. The families are based on APG III (2009).

The floristic diversity of the Rangbhang- Bhainsegaunda comprises 185 species of phanerogams, and 14 species of cryptogams categorized by 12 genera and 8 families. In the life form category herbaceous species were dominant with 108 species succeeded by trees with 48 species, shrubs with 35 species and climbers with eight species. The dominant was families were Orchidaceae (16 species) succeeded by Poaceae (15 species), Asteraceae (12 species), Moraceae (10 species), Rosaceae and Lamiaceae (nine species each), Rubiaceae (eight species), Fabaceae (seven species), Rutaceae (six species), Pteridaceae (five species), Fagaceae, Malvaceae, Solanaceae, Urticaceae and Zingiberaceae (four species each). In families based on genera, the dominant genus was Ficus with eight species succeeded by Coelogyne with three species, Bambusa, Buddleja, Castanopsis, Citrus, Datura, Elatostema, Hypericum, Prunus, Pteris, Rubus and Solanum each with two species while rest of the genera are monotypic or containing each single species (Table 1).

According to the IUCN Red List category 76 species of plant are listed, the majority of these are listed under least concern with 73 plant species while vulnerable, near threatened and extinct in the wild with one species each out of the total species recorded to Nepal. The floristic assessment of the present study revealed the presence of endemic species belonging to 33 distinct families and 17 genera to Nepal out of the total species recorded which represents a significant concentration of restricted range taxa, underscoring its ecological significance. Pteridophytes were observed with 8 families and 14 species which may be due to low moisture and high evaporation relating to changes in rainfall patterns, rise in temperature and excessive invasion of the invasive alien plant species in little moist and wet areas.

In this present finding altogether 185 species of phanerogam plants categorized under 161 genera out of 69 families. Ficus with eight species was the dominant genera succeeded by Coelogyne and Pteris each with three species along with Bambusa, Buddleja, Castanea, Citrus, Commelina, Datura, Elatostema, Hypericum, Prunus, Rubus, Smilax, Solanum and Viola each with two species while the remaining were single species consecutively in a row. The richest family was found to be Orchidaceae with 16 species succeeded by Poaceae with 15 species. The most dominant family of many other findings, Asteraceae was found to be the third highest family in this area with 12 species. This may be due to the different period for taxonomic data collection. The life form of plant species was found mostly dominated on herbs with 108 species. The presence of herbs in nature is predominant in comparison to other life forms (Shrestha and Dhillion, 2003; Chaudhary et al., 2020; Magar et al; 2022).

The altitude distribution which lies in the sub-tropical region is favored mostly by Castanopsis Forest. The two community forests located in Rangbhang- Bhainsegaunda have a collection of large species of flora within the area which is a good example of community users’ contribution towards the protection and management of wild flora.

In this study, one species of gymnosperm has been recorded i.e. Pinus roxburghii Sarg. Belonging to Pinaceae family. In Nepal, a total 26 number of gymnosperms are found representing 5.1% of the world’s known total gymnosperms according to Bista (2006). Bhattarai et al. (2018) reported the same one species of gymnosperm as the dominating tree species in the sub-tropical forest region of the Makwanpur district, which is like the present observation.

The floristic diversity and life patterns of plant species across the range of Rangbhang- Bhainsegaunda. The orchid family stands out as one of the largest, most varied and unique groups of flowering plants with an estimated 20,000 to 35,000 species globally (Dressler, 1993). The Himalayan region alone is home to over 850 orchid species (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) this could be the reason with high number of orchid species listed in the present study. In a study, (Fraser-Jenkins et al., 2015) reported 550 species of Pteridophytes in Nepal out of which 14 species were found in this study. Among these species, Pteridophytes consist of 14 species categorized by 12 genera and 8 families. (Tiruwa et al., 2024) in a study of Orchids in Annapurna Conservation Area highlighted 198 species of orchids as the highest species rich family which aligns with the present study. The study in Gulmi reported that herbs with 42.35% was dominant based on life form categories succeeded by tree with 38.82% and shrub with 18.82% which resembles with the present study (Bhandari and KC, 2024). In similar research in Nagarkot 43 species of Poaceae were listed with abundant species present in the altitude between 1330–1610 m which is like this study (Kharbuja, 2024). The higher plant diversity in China reported 35112 native species belonging to 3818 genera and 454 families. The top 10 families with highest species diversity were Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, Orchidaceae which contradicts with this study as 4th highest family in plant diversity in China is the dominant in this study area. The area coverage of these families could be a significant in the data of the study (Wang et al., 2015). The total number of endemic species in a specific location or the percentage of all extant taxa present (apart from exotics) are two further ways to express endemism. Increases in geographic areas therefore correspond to increases in endemism (Major, 1988). The protection of plants including orchid species is an important subject where many countries in the world have enforced laws for conservation (Ronsted et al., 2022).

Plate-1: Some photographs of plant species of the present study

The present study listed the floristic diversity at the hills of Rangbhang- Bhaisegaunda located in junction of Biruwa Rural Municipality and Putalibazar Metropolitan City–2, Syangja district of Gandaki province to explore the flora and plant species diversity patterns of the study area. A total of 199 plant species has been listed where Orchidaceae and Poaceae family are dominant with high number of plant species. The presence of diverse flora within the minimum attitudinal range signifies the richness of the biodiversity in this habitat. This natural biological-rich spot should be given high importance for further research and study to promote the flora and fauna of this region. Similarly, greater number of plants have been listed under IUCN Red List category which signifies the importance of the conservation and protection of Biruwa Rural Municipality and Putalibazar Metropolitan City-2.

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