Volume 8, Issue 1 (12-2009)
Abstract
This study was carried out in Kalat highlands of Gonabad located in East of Iran with the altitude of 1100 to 2830 m.a.s.l. The mean annual percipitation and temperature are 143.2 mm and 17.2 C, respectively. The aim of study was to identify and to introduce the flora, to determine chorology of plant species and to define their growth forms. Altogrther 190 plant species belong to 107 genera and 39 families were determined. The most important families were Asteraceae, Poaceae and Lamiaceae. Astragalus and Cousinia were the main genera. The life form spectrum, based on Raunkiaer, revealed that Therophytes with 36.84% and Hemicryptophytes with 36.32% are the dominant life forms. According to Zohary, Chorological characteristics of the plant species showed that most of them were Irano-Turanian elements. About 8 species were endemic to Iran. The species Phlomidoschema parviflorum is a rare and semi-endemic to Gonabad region. According to the IUCN, two categories of plant species viz. vulnerable (VU) and lower risk (LR) were introduced. There were 14 threatened plant species in the area
