First floristic exploration of the district Torghar,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan

District tor ghar lies on the western most edge of the himalayas range of mountains. plant scientists have explored most parts of pakistan but still certain regions including tor ghar are un-explored. thus it is imperative to introduce region in floristic terms for the first time. the study was initiated to not only provide first inventory of vascular plants but also to evaluate floristic diversity of the region. the research area was extensively visited during flowering and fruiting seasons of plants during the summers of 2012 and 2013. plants were collected from various localities,voucher numbers were given to specimens and other relevant data pertaining to locality i.e.,habitat,habit,family,scientific and local names were recorded for each species. mounted copy of each voucher specimens were deposited to the herbarium of hazara university mansehra. results of this study were arranged according to benthum & hooker (1862-1883) system of classification. this first exploration revealed a total of 331 vascular plant species belonging to 246 genera and 101 families. these include 12 species of pteridophytes,6 gymnosperms and 313 angiosperms. the dicotyledons were represented by 79 families,197 genera and 267 species,while monocotyledons by 14 families,38 genera and 46 species. families asteraceae and leguminosae were the richest families with 25 & 24 species followed by poaceae (21 species),lamiaceae (17 species) and rosaceae (14 species). families ranunculaceae and brasicaceae were represented by 10 species and euphorbiaceae had 9 species. moraceae,apiaceae and polygonaceae each had 8 species. remaining families either included 7 or less than 7 species. it is believed that this very first check list of vascular plants of tor ghar district is a comprehensive picture of floristic diversity and will serve as a base line for future studies. this exploration is a part of an ongoing project in which we will explore plant communities and ecological as well as anthropogenic gradients of the regional flora in near future. © 2015,pakistan botanical society. all rights reserved.