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1 Quisqualis malabarica Bedd. Endemic to India
2 Terminalia paniculata Roth. Endemic to India
Terminalia travencorensis Wight ex
3 Endemic to India
Arn.
CONCLUSION
The study area, Thiruvananthapuram district is unique in many ways by harboring specialized
habitats and communities apart from different forest ecosystems, ranging from evergreen
forests, grasslands, moist deciduous and dry deciduous. 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 and holds a remarkable genetic diversity of plants,
animals and other lower life forms, with an estimated 5.2 % endemism. Out of the 13 species
occurring in the study area, 3 are endemic to India shows that 25% of endemism, which
highlights the importance of study. The study realised that most of the endemic species have
critically low population, warranting implementation of appropriate conservation measures so
as to maintain the endemic diversity. Most of the indigenous species are becoming rare or
some of them threatened even before they are documented. Many medicinal and potential
ornamental species are fast disappearing from their natural habitats due to over collections
and habitat changes. This necessitates the proper documentation and utilization of these
plants before they are eliminated from the natural habitat. In spite of their ornamental and
medicinal importance, most of the species are being threatened with extinction due to over
collection and habitat changes. Further, the study clearly emphasize that the existence of a
species is unknown due to our ignorance and its extinction will also be unknown. Therefore,
the present investigation achieves twin objectives of documenting this group which led to
conservation and proper utilization for the mankind
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