The Characteristic Medicinal Plants of Different Vegetation Types from the Niraj Valley, Romania

Abstract In this study the medicinal plants of some representative vegetation types from a human-modified Eastern European landscapes were investigated. The studied territory is part of a Special Protection Area for bird species. The following sampling areas were included in the study: humid grasslands; mountain hay meadows; semi-natural dry grasslands; Sub-pannonic steppic grasslands; fringe communities of mesothermophilic forest edges; grey willow scrubs; thickets of willow; forests of white willow; hornbeam-beech, oak-hornbeam, and sessile oak forests; scrubs of blackthorn and hawthorn; Subcontinental peri-Pannonic scrubs. The ordering of medicinal plants on the basis of presence/absence data and the abundance data presented the grouping in the following typical communities: to the deciduous forests, to the coppices and scrubs, and to the grasslands and meadows. A total of 208 medicinal plants were found from which 37 species are included in the European Pharmacopoeia, and 13 in the Romanian Pharmacopoeia. The existing list of medicinal plants of the Niraj Valley in the scientific literature was completed with 33 taxa. The medicinal plants containing tannins (18.93%) were in higher percentage followed by those with essential oils (10.68%), flavonoids (10.68%), saponins (9.71%), alkaloids (7.77%), mucilages (6.80%), coumarins (5.34%). However rational (sustainable) exploitation of these natural resources is necessary.