Investigatory Project on Economic Importance of Plant Groups

 

A STUDY OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF VARIOUS PLANT GROUPS (Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Pteridophytes, Bryophytes, Algae and Fungi)

Introduction

 

The plants provide us food, clothing and shelter, the three primary necessities of man. In addition to these primary necessities, they provide us medicines, vitamins, minerals and several other commercial products. Clothing is fulfilled by fibre - yielding plants. To meet an ever - increasing demand for plants, the application knowledge of Botany has been considered to be of great importance for better utilization of plant products. The present study aims to collect the economically important plants and study their economic importance.

 

Materials and Methods

 

Selected different local areas for plant collection (name of the local area). The materials like Vasculum, pruning shears, scissors, tag, knife etc were collected. The field trips were organised in different time of the year. The collected materials were kept in a vasculum. Identified the plants and assessed the economic value of each plant using reference books.

 

Observation and Results

 

The collected plants were recorded in a tabular column

No:	Common Name	Scientific Name	Morphology of useful parts	Uses
Angiosperms
1	Coconut Palm	Cocos nucifera	Fruits	Food, fibre, oil
2	Pepper	Piper nigrum	Fruits	Spice
3	Cotton	Gossypium herbaceum	Fibre	Cloth
4	Teak	Tectona grandis	Timber	Furniture
5	Jack tree	Artocarpus heterophylla	Timber and fruits	Furniture and food
6	Cashew tree	Anacardium occidentale	Seeds and fruits	Food
7	Tamarind	Tamarindus indica	Fruits	Food
8	Pineapple	Ananas comosus	Fruits	Food
9	Mango tree	Mangifera indica	Fruits	Food
10	Banana plant	Musa paradisiaca	Fruits	Food
11	Guava	Psidium guayava	Fruits	Food
12	Rice	Oryza sativa	Seeds	Food
13	Tulsi	Oscimum sanctum	Leaves	Medicinal
14	Papaya	Carica papaya	Fruits	Medicinal
15	Asparagus	Asparagus officinalis	Root	Medicinal
Gymnosperm
16	Pine tree	Pinus excelsa	Timber	Furniture, turpentine
Pteridophyte
17	Lycopodium (club moss)	Lycopodium clavatum	Entire plant	Medicine
Bryophyte
18	Marchantia	Marchantia palmata	Thallus	Jaundice
Algae
19	Laminaria	Laminaria japonica	Thallus	Medicine
Fungi
20	Mushroom	Morchella esculenta	Basidiocarp	Food

 

Discussions and Conclusions

 

In the present study, the economic importance of collected plant groups such as Angiosperms, Gymnosperm, Pteridophyte, Bryophyte, AIgae and Fungi were noted. The economic values of Angiosperms were very high compared with the other plant groups.

 

Viva Questions and Answers

 

1. What is the botanical name of Tulsi?

Oscimum sanctum

 

2. Which is the useful part of Mushroom?

Basidiocarp

 

3. What is the use of Marchantia?

Treatment of Jaundice

 

References

 

1. Kochhar. S. L., Economic Botany in the Tropics. Macmillan India Limited, New Delhi.

2. Pandey. B. P., Economic Botany, S. Chand Company, New Delhi

3. Albert F. Hill, Economic Botany, TATA Mc. Graw Hill Publishing Company Ltd.