Manipur Flora

The richness of Manipur flora is distributed in its lush green environment. The diverse variety includes crops, exotic blooms, medicinal plants, gymnosperm, pteridophytic plants, fungi, rare and threatened plants, and other ethno-botanically important ones. Truly a treasure house of flora, Manipur is perched between the high hills of the north eastern corner of India. An extensive 67 % of the geographical area of Manipur is covered by forest land. With the varying altitude and climactic conditions, the variety of flora in Manipur ranges from tropical to sub-alpine.

In Manipur, the wet forests, pine forests and the exotic treasure of orchids are found between the altitudes of 900-2700 meters above the sea level. Manipur is home to an envious collection of around 500 varieties of orchids, including some rare assortments. The state has motley of around 41 primitive flowering plants belonging to 11 families and around 75 species of indigenous plants have been listed so far. A miscellaneous array of around 3000 higher plants occurs within an area of 22,327 sq. km, clearly manifesting the priceless spread.

The Siroi Lily grown on the Siroi hills, the amazing variety of around 269 types of rice, genus Dioscorea, genus Citrus, fiber crops and around 53 species of bamboos are found in the state of Manipur. Manipur has a record of more than 300 species of Pteridophytes, 121 species of algae, 50 varieties of fleshy fungi and even some mosses. The wealth of around 1200 species of medicinal plants including the rare varieties of Texus baccata and Clerodendron siphonanthus are found among the varieties of Manipur flora.