124 2020 Journal of Plant Resources Vol.18, No. 1 Floristic Diversity in a Community Managed Forest of Kanchanpur District, Western Nepal Neelam Pandey * and Suresh Kumar Ghimire Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal *E-mail: neelampandey54198@gmail.com Abstract The present study describes the floristic diversity of Janahit Mahakali community forest in Kanchanpur district, Western Nepal. The forest comprises an area of 198.93 hectares. Altogether, 148 plant species belonging to 123 genera under 59 families were recorded from 72 different sampling plots. Among the recorded species, the herbaceous species were quite higher than shrubs and trees. There were total 117 dicots, 23 monocots and 8 pteridophytes recorded. The study area was found to be dominated by Fabaceae with 13 genera and 19 species followed by Lamiaceae with 8 genera and 9 species. The frequency distribution of Shorearobusta and Terminaliaalata was found highest among all recorded species. Similarly, Mazus pumilis and Phyllodium pulchellum were among the most dominant herb and shrub. Keywords: Dominant, Frequency distribution, Herbaceous, Janahit Mahakali, Plant composition Introduction Nepal is well known for its rich plant biodiversity in terms of its size. The country occupies about 0.1 percent of the global area but possesses over three percent of the world’s known flora (Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation [MoFSC], 2014). There are 35 forest types, 75 vegetation units and 118 ecosystems ((MoFSC, 2014).Forest covers a total of 5.96 million hectares which is 40.36% of total area of the country (Department of Forest Research and Survey [DFRS], 2010–2014). Tarai (low land) physiographic region of Nepal occupies 13.7% of the total land area of the country. Out of total area of forest 6.90% lies in Tarai (DFRS, 2010–2014).Tropical forests consists the most diverse plant communities on earth (Givnish, 1999; Anitha et al., 2010).Such forest is suitable habitat for trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers, ferns (Pathak & Baniya, 2017). Species diversity in the tropics varies from place to place. The biological resources of the Tarai are mostly dominated by Sal trees (Shorea robusta), tropical deciduous riverine forest and tropical evergreen forest. Sal forest is an identity of the lowland Tarai, associated with Terminalia alata, Syzgium cumini, Adina cardifolia, Lagerstroemia parviflora. These ecosystems are of international importance in terms of the number of globally threatened floral species found in them as well as their diversity (DFRS, 2010–2014). Floristic study is a systematic botanical survey using vegetation plots which provide information on the patterns of plant diversity (Stohlgren et al., 1997). It is a substantial basis for syntaxonomical and phytoecological investigations required for taking conservation measure (Georgievia, 2013). Floristic analyses are very useful for identifying spatial patterns in plant diversity and composition (Slik et al., 2003). Knowledge of plant composition and diversity supports understanding of forest ecosystem dynamics and the utility of forest resources (Hartshorn, 1990). The rapid loss in floristic diversity and changing pattern of vegetation due to various biotic and abiotic factors have necessitated the qualitative and quantitative assessment of vegetation (Sharma et al., 2014). So the study of floristic diversity should attain importance as knowledge on floral diversity of a particular area can reflect the total resources, their use and conservation status which is very helpful for making conservation strategies and policies (Bhatta & Chaudhary, 2009). Since, the botanical exploration in Nepal done by F. Buchanan Hamilton in 1802–1803 the major floristic enumerations have been focusing in Central and Eastern part of Nepal. Little attention has been given to the floristic study of Western Nepal (Shrestha et al., 2006). Compared to high altitudes, the flora of plains is still under explored (Chaudhary, 1998; Sah J. Pl. Res. Vol. 18, No. 1, pp 124-134, 2020