Floristic Account of the Asclepiadaceous Species from the Flora of Dera Ismail Khan District, KPK, Pakistan

In the present study an account is given of an investigation based on the results of the floristic research work conducted between 2005 and 2007 in Dera Ismail Khan District, north western Pakistan. The area was surveyed and 8 Asclepi- adaceous plant species were collected. These plant species are Calotropis procera (Aiton) W. T. Aiton. Caralluma edulis (Edgew.) Benth., Leptadenia pyrotecnica (Forssk.) Decne., Oxystelma esculentum (L. f.) R. Br., Pentatropis nivalis (J. F. Gmel.) D. V. Field & J. R. I. Wood, Pergularia daemia (Forssk.) Blatt.& McCann., Periploca aphylla Decne. and Stapelia gigantea N.E.Br. The study showed that five plants were used ethnobotanically in the area. All the plants were deposited as voucher specimens in the Department of plant sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, for future references. Complete macro & microscopic detailed morphological features of the species have been discussed. Taxo- nomic key was developed to differentiate closely related taxa.