Page 56 - e-Book

Terminalia chebula, T. bellerica and Phyllanthus emblica forms an important constituent of

the Ayurvedic formulation 'Triphala'. At least 7 species of the genus Terminalia are used for
the treatment of cancer in traditional medicine.

Even though the species has many economic values, the family has not been well
studied besides some causal treatment by the flora workers in India. The family

Combretaceae is taxonomically difficult one. Generic restrictions are imperfectly defined and
intergeneric connections are not well understood and ultimately vast variation of the taxa has

offered infuriating difficulties to botanists who have tried to delimit them and this has
ultimately resulted in confusing binomials. Species are classified with overlapping characters

and is difficult for delimiting the number of species in Kerala. Therefore the present study is

an attempt to document the 'species diversity of the family Combretaceae occurring in
Thiruvananthapuram district, of Kerala based on fresh field investigations with the objective

to identify the endemic and medicinally important species and to provide effective
identification key and accurate field information for an easy recognition of the species.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study area:

Thiruvananthapuram is the capital city of Kerala come into being on November 1st,

1956 with a total area of 2191.93 sq. km. This is one of the smallest district in the southern

most part of the state lies between north latitude 8° 17' 50'' and 8° 53' 42" and east longitude
76° 46' 24" & 70° 17' 00". The district is bounded on the east and west by Tamilnadu,

Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts respectively, North by Kollam district and west by
Arabian Sea. On a physiographic basis, the district is divided into 3 zones coastal, midland

and mountains. The study area is unique in many ways by harboring specialised habitats and

communities apart from different forest ecosystems, ranging from evergreen forests,
grasslands, moist deciduous and dry deciduous. The district is endowed with a beautiful

wealth of natural forests, Myristica swamps, riverine habitats and many ecologically sensitive
areas. The varied habitats of the study area falls within the Western Ghats system of

mountains house a sizeable number of species of plants including large number of endemics
having special relevance to conservation. Three main rivers and subtropical montane forest

such as Ponmudi, Chemungi, Brimore and Agasthyarkudam mountain ranges intermingled

with sholas and grasslands which harbours rich plant diversity. Climate of this area is
moderately humid with little temperature variation.

46