Exploration of wild plants wealth with economic importance tolerant to difficult conditions in Khulais Governorate, Saudi Arabia

The present work studied the flora of Khulais region, west Saudi Arabia, with reference to its potential use. Results revealed that the region considers a hot-spot in the Kingdom in term of plant diversity and more diverse region compared with other well studied regions in Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries. A total of 251 plant species belonging to 160 genera and 50 families were identified. The major plant families that contributed in the formation of vegetation of the area in question were Poaceae (42 species) followed by Papilonaceae (20 species), Euphorbiacea and Asteraceae (18 and 15 species, respectively), while eighteen families each was represented by only one species. Therophytes exhibited the maximum number of species (41.2%), followed by Chaemophytes (31.4%), Hemicryptophytes (13.7%) and Phanerophytes (10%), while the least frequent life form class was Geophytes. Floristic list of the studied area showed 96 species with economical importance, 66 species used as fodder, 24 as medical and 6 edible species. The study Shed light on the region and showed that the area has remained botanically virgin and not explored extensively and intensively even though rich in vegetation, providing floristic checklist and strongly recommending further detail study.