PLANT DIVERSITY OF HINDU KUSH MOUNTAIN REGION OF UTROR AND GABRAL, NORTHERN PAKISTAN

An ethnobotanical research project was carried out in order to investigate the floral diversity of Utror and Gabral, two twin valleys situated in the remote north western part of District Swat, Pakistan. The area exhibit unique and diverse flora, as it is located in the Hindu-Kush mountain region, adjacent to Himalayas and Karakorams. We observed that twin valleys contain 9 species of Bryophytes belonging to 5 families, 34 species of Pteridophytes belonging to 6 families, 10 plant species of Gymnosperms belonging to 3 families and 610 plant species of Angiosperms belonging to 93 families (104 species of Monocot belonging to 13 families and 506 plant species of Dicot belonging to 80 families).