Phytodiversity in the submergence area of the Srinagar hydroelectric power project in Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India

The present study was conducted to assess the Phytodiversity in the submergence zone of the medium scale Srinagar Hydro-electric project, which is being constructed on river Alaknanda near Srinagar town of district Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand state of India. We recorded a total of 133 species belonging to 65 families and 113 genera. Of the 54 families, 26 were represented by single species, 12 by two species, 6 by three species and 10 with more than 3 species. Euphorbiaceae and Fabaceae were the dominant families with 9 species each, followed by Amaranthaceae (7), Lamiaceae (7), Malvaceae (7), Asteraceae (6) and Solanaceae (6). These plant species were used by the local villagers for variety of uses ranging from food, religious uses, perfume, medicinal, fodder, dye, household articles, agricultural implements, beverage, fuel, ornamental, narcotic, insecticide, etc.