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The present study was carried out to investigate the palynoflora of Murree formation using microscopic techniques to understand the climatic changes and vegetation's evolution. In this palynological study, 31 samples were collected, analyzed, and then identified as palynomorphs using different previous published literature. The results of this study will be described in terms of the evolutionary history of plants and the depositional environment of the reported taxa in the study area. The botanical affinities and systematic description of the taxa were examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. The floral record identified Asteraceae as the dominant family and Pinus as a genus. Most of angiosperms i.e Fabaceae and Poaceae, have a poor fossil record but have an abundant palynological record in the study area. The highest polar diameter (75.75 µm), colpus length (34.5 µm) and colpus width (31 µm) were examined for the Convolvulus. Most of the taxa explained here had a wide geographical occurrence in Southeast Asia and show the abundance of angiosperms in the Miocene epoch. The palynological record of Holocene samples is important to know about the vegetation's origin and environmental fluctuations in the study area.

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The pollen micro-morphology of family Solanaceae from the different phytogeographical region of Pakistan has been assessed. In this study, thirteen species belonging to ten genera of Solanaceae have been studied using light and scanning electron microscopy for both qualitative and quantitative features. Solanaceae is a eurypalynous family and a significant variation was observed in pollen size, shape, polarity and exine sculpturing. Examined plant species includes, Brugmansia suaveolens, Capsicum annuum, Cestrum parqui, Datura innoxia, Solanum lycopersicum, Nicotiana plumbaginifolia, Petunia hybrida, Physalis minima, Solanum americanum, Solanum erianthum, Solanum melongena, Solanum surattense and Withania somnifera. The prominent pollen type is tricolporate and shed as a monad. High pollen fertility reflects that observed taxa are well-known in the study area. Based on the observed pollen traits a taxonomic key was developed for the accurate and quick identification of species. Principal Component Analysis was performed that shows some morphological features are the main characters in the identification. Cluster Analysis was performed that separate the plant species in a cluster. The findings highlight the importance of Palyno-morphological features in the characterization and identification of Solanaceous taxa. It is concluded that both LM and SEM significantly play a key role in correct identification of taxa studied.

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ABSTRACT This is the first ethnobotanical exploration with the aim to document the traditional medicinal usage of plants with the therapeutic values in Tehsil Talagang of Punjab province, Pakistan. The study shows the dependence of local people on medicinal plants in their daily life and provides practical evidence regarding the traditional usage of medicinal plants in health care practices. A total of 196 respondents including residents of the study area with gender representation and traditional healers were interviewed by using visual appraisal approach and rapid rural appraisal methods along semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaire. The data was quantitatively analyzed by using quantitative indices like use value, the relative frequency of citation, informant consensus factor, fidelity level and relative importance. A comparison with 25 published ethnobotanical and pharmacological studies was carried out to authenticate the ethnomedicinal relevance of the data recorded. The ethnomedicinal practices of 101 medicinal plants belonging to 36 families were reported. The results indicated that the dominant family was Brassicaceae (nine species). Herbs (57%) were the most dominant life form and leaves (29%) were the frequently used plant part with 45 reports. Mentha arvensis was found as highly cited plant species by respondents. The highest informant consensus factor value (0.65) was found for gastrointestinal disease category. There are 25 plant species having 100% fidelity level value. Use value and relative frequency of citation ranges from 0.04 to 0.16 and 0.15 to 0.36, respectively. The majority of the plant species were found to have strong pharmacological evidence. The current study will provide the basis for the preservation of ethnomedicinal heritage, knowledge and practices as well as for the further scientific investigations regarding the development of new herbal drugs.