The application of ethnobotany in screening indigenous emergent ornamental plants in Yangzhou, Jiangsu

Authors Lin Shan; Xu Huilin; Shen Ao; Huai Huyin; Zhang Shuncang

Journal Ecologic Science , 2017,4:36

Abstract In this study, Yangzhou was selected as the study area to investigate the application of ethnobotany in the selection of indigenous emergent ornamental plants. We studied the emergent plants resources in this area and evaluated their ornamental values with the ethnobotanical methods. As showed in our results, there are about 93 species of emergent plants in this area, which belong to 62 genera and 28 families. The three species-rich families are Cyperaceae, Gramineae and Polygonaceae, accounting for 50% of the total species. According to their values of comprehensive utilization, we chose 20 indigenous species which were seldom or never used in the construction of urban landscapes and sorted them further with the ethnobotanical methods. As a result, the ornamental value was quite different at the individual level and population level for one species. For example, Typha angustifolia, Monochoria vaginalis, Ludwigia octovalvis etc. had higher composite salience values at the individual level, and Polygonum japonicum, Typha angustifolia, Scirpus validus etc. had higher composite salience values at the population level.

Species covered 鸭舌草 Monochoria vaginalis 水烛 Typha angustifolia 毛草龙 Ludwigia octovalvis 蚕茧草 Polygonum japonicum 水葱 Scirpus validus