Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Early Access

Floristic survey of Darjeeling Himalaya with emphasis on endemism and conservation status

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.11097
Submitted
4 August 2025
Published
24-03-2026
Versions

Abstract

The Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India, is an ideal home to many taxa, like any other part of the Great Himalayas. The floristic survey of the Darjeeling district provides an overview of the region's biodiversity within the Eastern Himalayan hotspot. The present study documented diverse plant taxa from the Darjeeling Himalaya by preparing herbarium specimens using standard methods, identifying them taxonomically and assessing their threat status using the IUCN Red List database. Using floristic inventories analysed through diversity indices (Shannon, Simpson, Margalef), similarity measures (Jaccard, Sørensen), non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination and permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA), quantified the spatial patterns of plant diversity across the study area. This study showed that Orchidaceae, Rosaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae and Acanthaceae are the dominant plant families in the area and recorded 11 plant species that are either endemic or regionally restricted. The study revealed high alpha diversity (species richness 40–109; H′ = 3.69–4.69) and strong beta diversity driven mainly by species turnover (Jaccard dissimilarity 0.28–0.94), with altitude and associated temperature gradients significantly structuring community composition (PERMANOVA R² = 0.316, p = 0.001), whereas precipitation had no significant effect. The conservation status shows that almost 76 % of the plant species are in the "Not Evaluated" (NE) category, followed by "Least Concern" (LC; 19 %), "Endangered" (EN; 1.2 %) and "Critically Endangered" (CR; 1%). The floristic exploration data on species richness and diversity of the flora provide valuable baseline data for future studies.

References

  1. 1. Hussain S, Hore DK. Collection and conservation of major medicinal plants of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian For. 2008;134(12):1663–79.
  2. 2. Das AP. Floristic studies in Darjeeling Hills. Nelumbo. 2004;46(1–4):1–18. https://doi.org/10.20324/nelumbo/v46/2004/74109
  3. 3. Das AP. Diversity of angiospermic flora of Darjeeling Hills. Taxon Biodivers. 1995;118–27.
  4. 4. Mallick JK. An annotated checklist of dicotyledonous angiosperms in Darjeeling Himalayas and foothills, West Bengal, India. J New Biol Rep. 2020;9(2):94–208.
  5. 5. Hooker JD. Notes chiefly botanical, made during an excursion from Darjiling to Tonglo, a lofty mountain on the confines of Sikkim and Nepal. J Asiat Soc Bengal. 1849;18(1):419–46.
  6. 6. Gamble JS. List of the trees, shrubs and large climbers found in the Darjeeling District, Bengal. Calcutta: Presidency Jail Press; 1896.
  7. 7. Hara H. The flora of eastern Himalaya: results of the botanical expedition to eastern Himalaya organized by the University of Tokyo 1960 and 1963. Tokyo: Univ Tokyo Press; 1966.
  8. 8. Goyder DJ, Grierson AJC, Long DG, Bates M. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim and Darjeeling. Kew Bull. 2000;55(3):758–9. https://doi.org/10.2307/4118795
  9. 9. Bhujel R. Studies on the dicotyledonous flora of Darjeeling district. [Doctoral thesis]. Siliguri: Univ North Bengal; 1996. https://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/875
  10. 10. Samanta A. Taxonomical and phytosociological studies on the angiospermic climbers of Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas [Doctoral thesis]. SiliguriUniv North Bengal; 1998.
  11. 11. Nirola S, Das AP. Endemic monocot flora of Darjeeling Himalaya, West Bengal, India. Pleione. 2017;11(1):116–24.
  12. 12. Yonzone R, Lama D, Bhujel RB, Gogoi K, Rai S. Taxonomic assessment on the reported orchid species of Darjeeling district from flora of Bhutan, the orchids of Bhutan: a review. Int J Pharm Life Sci. 2012;3(4):1590–606.
  13. 13. Yonzone R, Lama D, Bhujel RB, Rai S. Orchid species diversity of Darjeeling Himalaya of India. Int J Pharm Life Sci. 2012;3(3):1533–50.
  14. 14. Thapa N. Studies on the pteridophytic flora of Darjeeling Hills. [Doctoral thesis]. Siliguri: Univ North Bengal; 2016. https://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/2579
  15. 15. Jain SK, Rao RR. A handbook of field and herbarium methods. New Delhi: Today & Tomorrow’s Printers Publ; 1977.
  16. 16. Don D. Prodromus florae Nepalensis. Dehra Dun: Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh; 1976. Repr. of 1825 ed.
  17. 17. Cowan AM, Cowan JM. The trees of northern Bengal: including shrubs, woody climbers, bamboos, palms and tree ferns. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot; 1929.
  18. 18. Biswas K, Chopra R. Common medicinal plants of Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas. Alipore (West Bengal): Superintendent, Government Printing, West Bengal Government Press; 1956.
  19. 19. Biswas K. Plants of Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas. Calcutta (West Bengal): Superintendent, Government Printing, West Bengal Govt. Press; 1966.
  20. 20. Hooker JD. The flora of British India. Vol. 6. London: L Reeve & Co.; 1894.
  21. 21. Matthew K. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Kurseong, Darjeeling District, West Bengal, India. Dehra Dun: Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh; 1981.
  22. 22. Hara H. Flora of eastern Himalaya, second report. Taxon. 1972;21(1):186. https://doi.org/10.2307/1219257
  23. 23. Das A, Ghosh C. Plant wealth of Darjiling and Sikkim Himalayas vis-à-vis conservation. NBU J Plant Sci. 2022;5(1):25–33. https://doi.org/10.55734/NBUJPS.2011.v05i01.004
  24. 24. Yonzone R, Bhujel RB, Rai S. Genetic resources, current ecological status and altitude-wise distribution of medicinal plants diversity of Darjeeling Himalaya of West Bengal, India. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2012;2(1):S439–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2221-1691(12)60203-2
  25. 25. Margalef R. Information theory in ecology. Mem Real Acad Cienc Artes Barcelona. 1957;32:373–449.
  26. 26. Simpson EH. Measurement of diversity. Nature. 1949;163(4148):688. https://doi.org/10.1038/163688a0
  27. 27. Shannon CE. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell Syst Tech J. 1948;27(3):379–423. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x
  28. 28. Negi VS, Pandey A, Singh A, Bahukhandi A, Pharswan DS, Gaira KS, et al. Elevation gradients alter vegetation attributes in mountain ecosystems of eastern Himalaya, India. Front For Glob Change. 2024;7. https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2024.1381488
  29. 29. Saikia P, Deka J, Bharali S, Kumar A, Tripathi OP, Singha LB, et al. Plant diversity patterns and conservation status of eastern Himalayan forests in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. For Ecosyst. 2017;4:28. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-017-0117-8
  30. 30. Yadav BK, Bhatta KP, Ayer S, Basnet P, Dhakal N, Sharma S, et al. Elevation shapes tree composition, structure and diversity more than soil properties in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Trees For People. 2025;20:100902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2025.100902
  31. 31. Koleff P, Gaston KJ, Lennon JJ. Measuring beta diversity for presence–absence data. J Anim Ecol. 2003;72(3):367–82. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2656.2003.00710.x
  32. 32. Magurran AE. Measuring biological diversity. Curr Biol. 2021;31(19):R1174–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.049
  33. 33. Kala CP. Indigenous uses, population density and conservation of threatened medicinal plants in protected areas of the Indian Himalayas. Conserv Biol. 2005;19(2):368–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00602.x
  34. 34. Hussain S, Hore DK. Collection and conservation of major medicinal plants of Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas. Indian J Tradit Knowl. 2007;6(2):352–7.
  35. 35. Paul A, Bharali S, Khan ML, Tripathi OP. Anthropogenic disturbances led to risk of extinction of Taxus wallichiana Zuccarini, an endangered medicinal tree in Arunachal Himalaya. Nat Areas J. 2013;33(4):447–54. https://doi.org/10.3375/043.033.0408
  36. 36. Sharma S, Thokchom R. A review on endangered medicinal plants of India and their conservation. J Crop Weed. 2014;10(2):205–18.
  37. 37. Marcus M. Sustainability and conservation strategies for endangered medicinal plant species. Int J Herbal Sci. 2024;5(2):1–7.
  38. 38. Chen SL, Yu H, Luo HM, Wu Q, Li CF, Steinmetz A. Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: problems, progress and prospects. Chin Med. 2016;11:37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13020-016-0108-7

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.