Documentation and Investigation into the Floristic Composition of Barakat Area (Gazira State) Sudan

Abstract

A floristic composition research was conducted in the Barakat Area in Gazira State, Sudan. Plant specimens were collected at random from various habitats during two field surveys. Samples were prepared and stored in the Herbarium of the Faculty of Science at the University of Khartoum.  Angiosperm species from 43 botanical groups were discovered, totaling 127. There were 110 dicotyledons from 36 families, with the Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Mimosaceae, Convolvulaceae, and Caesalpinaceae families having the most species. There were 17 monocotyledon plant species found, divided into seven families, with the Poaceae and Cyperaceae families being the most prominent. The less frequent families were: Polygonaceae, Aristolochiaceae, Vitaceae, Cleomaceae and Commelinaceae. Hundreds of these species were indigenous flora while 27 were cultivated .Parasitic plants belonging to the families Loranthaceae and Scrophulariaceae were also recorded, in summary the flora consisted of 26 trees, 15 shrubs, 81 herbs and 5climbers. Euphorbia was the most common genus with 4 species followed by Acacia with 3 species. The cultivated species represented 21.3% of the total flora, while the indigenous flora represented 78.7%. Three layers of vegetation were observed in the study area: the upper most was the tree layer, dominated by Acacia nilotica (Sunut), Acacia nubica (Laot) and Ziziphus spina-christi (Sidir). The second (intermediate) layer was the shruby layer, dominated by Colatropis procera (Ushar), and the third herbaceous layer, which was dominated by Cynodon dactylon. This study will contributes positively to regional floristic knowledge of the Sudan and stimulate further studies on the flora of Sudan.