The Investigation Of Medicinal Plant Resources In Dianbai, Maoming City, Guangdong Province

Based on document consultation, field investigation, herbarium work, medicinal plant resources in Dianbai, Maoming City(MPRDMC) is analyzed from the following aspects:the constitution, life form, flora of Spermatophyte of medicinal plant resources and the property and flavor of medicinal part;Through interview and investigation, the present situation of medicinal plant cultivation and indigenous traditional medicine are summarized. Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) is used to select medicinal plants with high value of exploitation and utilization. Suggestions are given to solve problems about sustainable utilization of meicinal plant resources and inheritance of indigenous traditional medicine.1. Catalogue of medicinal plants in Dianbai District is made according to identified herbarium collected and species reported in Dianbai District. The MPRDMC comprises 665(including infraspecific taxa) species belonging to 464 genera of 157 families, including medicinal fungi species in 3 genera of 3 families,38 medicinal pteridophyte species in 29 genera of 20 families,3 medicinal gymnosperm species in 2 genera of 2 families and 621 species in 430 genera of 132 families.2. Among the MPRDMC, the dominant families with 11 species or more are: Papilionaceae, Compositae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Moraceae, Scrophulariaceae, Lamiaceae, Araceae, Menispermaceae, Zingiberaceae, Malvaceae, Verbenaceae, Camelliaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, adding up to 293 species(44.06% of total flora) belonging to 16 families(10.19% of total families). The genera with more than 5 species contain 40 species(6.02% of total flora) belonging to 6 genera(1.29% of total genera). The result indicates that there are only dominant families among MPRDMC.3. Perennial herb with 177 species (26.62% of flora) and shrub with 166 species (24.96% of flora) are predominant among MPRDMC.610 species (91.73% of flora) of MPRDMC have not been locally cultivated yet.4.87 families(65.41% of families) and 352 genera(81.48% of genera) belong to tropical elements, which are predominant among MPRDMC. The result of flora analysis indicates that the flora of Dianbai District comprises a great amount of tropical constitution, which suggests the close relationship between the flora of Dianbai District and tropical area.5. Whole plant is the predominant mdicinal part among MPRDMC, which contains 306 species(46.01% of flora). The amount of medicinal plant species with 5 medicinal parts or more is 378(56.84% of flora).6. Among the MPRDMC, the frequency of cool property, mild property, cold property is respectively 316,290,261. The frequency of bitter taste, sweet taste, pungent taste is respectively 595,411,381. There is connection between these predominant medicinal characters and the local climate condition.7. The average number of efficacy of single species in MPRDMC is 2.2.The frequency of heat-clearing is 432, dampness-removing is 238, wind-dispelling is 128. These predominant efficacy indicates that the damp, hot climate is an significant factor of causing disease in Dianbai District.8. The poisonous medicinal plants in the MPRDMC with 60 species belong to 54 genera of 29 families, including 8 species of strong toxicity,31 species of moderate toxicity,22 species of mild toxicity. Poinsonous medicinal part includes whole plant with 12 species, root with 29species, stem with 16 species, leaf with 16 species, flower with 2 species, fruit and seed with 13 species.9. Herb fairs in large scale include Shuidong herb fair and Nahuo herb fair. Over 200 species of MPRDMC are sold in the fair.10. The unique efficacy of 16 species of MPRDMC has not been recorded, which might be potential for discovering being new drug resources.11. Medicinal plant culturing in Dianbai District has developed for over 40 years. Species planted in large scale include Aquilaria sinensis, Callerya speciosa, Illicium verum. The eagle wood planted in Dianbai District especially enjoy a great fame in China, which has become a famous species with high value and local character.12. According to the result of analytic hierarchy process(AHP), the MPRDMC could be divided into 4 levels. Medicinal plants in Ⅰ level including 38 species scored 4.000 points or more, the number of species in level Ⅱ scoring 3.500 to 4.000 is 149, while 370 species scoring 3.000 to 3.500 in level Ⅲ,108 species scoring less than in level Ⅳ.13. Present situation of MPRDMC and indigenous traditional medicine knowledge is sumurized at the end of this study, suggestions for the sustainable utilization of MPRDMC and protection of indigenous taditional medicine knowledge is given.