Floristic enumeration of Torna Fort (Western Ghats, India): a storehouse of endemic plants

Abstract

The forts on hilltops of the Sahyadri (northern Western Ghats) have seen a turbulent historical past and are famous for their architectural style and cultural heritage. Besides this, these hilltops are home to an incredible plant diversity. One of the highest hilltop forts (ca. 1,403m) the Torna, has been explored since 2012 for floral assessment. The study documented ca. 399 plant species of which about 28% are endemic to the Western Ghats and 16 monotypic species were recorded. A brief account of the immense floristic diversity and new findings from Torna fort are summarized in the present article.

Keywords

• endemism
• hilltop forts
• flowering plants
• northern western ghats.