Abstract

A study on the flora with emphasis on endemic and threatened species was carried out in the Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary located along the Arienkavu-Kulathupuzha valley in Kollam (Quilon) district of Kerala state. The Sanctuary has an area of 100 square km. including the Kallada Reservoir having an extent of 13. 75 square km. The study resulted in documenting the occurrence of 951 species of flowering plants belonging to 581 genera under 118 families. The analysis shows that the flora of the Sanctuary is rich in endemic species. Out of the 951 species, 310 are W. Ghat Endemics which form 32 per cent of the flora. The Aerienkavu-kulathupuzha valley is the type locality of several endemic arborescent species and most of them were relocated in the Sanctuary. During the present study two new species, one distribution record for South India and five for Kerala were also discovered. The Sanctuary possess several rare and threatened species. One hundred species belonging to