Preliminary inventory of the vegetation at the proposed site of Ekiti State University Botanical Garden

A preliminary inventory of the vegetation at the proposed site of the botanical garden of Ekiti State University was carried out with a view to providing baseline information about the richness, distribution, economic and medicinal importance of the available plant species. This is to serve as fundamental knowledge for a periodical assessment of impact as the garden is fully established. The proposed site measures 1944 m2 in size. With the aid of a geographical compass, the entire land area was divided into four axes (i.e. north-, south-, east- and west-wards) to serve as guide for enumerating the plant species and assessing their pattern of distribution. Plant collections were made from the four axes by means of secateurs and vasculum and thereafter prepared as herbarium specimens which were stored in the University Herbarium. Forty plant families, comprising eighty-four species were noted for the inventory. The economic and medicinal importance of the plant species was recorded. As at the period of the exercise, five plant species were abundant, twenty-three were occasional, while fifty-six were rare. It was deduced that the site is a secondary forest, rich in plant species and would be less costly to be prepared for the establishment of a botanical garden. Goals of sustainable development and species conservation was set for the management of the said garden.