Economic and Botanical Analysis of Ornamental Plants of the Central Iran

Subject Areas : Journal of Ornamental Plants

Kamal Imanian Najafabadi ¹ , Kazem Kamali Aliabad ² , Hamid Sodaiezadeh ³ , Mohammad Zare ⁴

1 - Arid Land and Desert Management Department, Natural Resources faculty, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
2 - Associate Professor, Department of management the arid and desert regions, College of Natural
3 - Associate Professor, Department of management the arid and desert regions, College of Natural
4 - Associate Professor, Department of management the arid and desert regions, College of Natural

Received: 2025-01-04 Accepted : 2025-03-23 Published : 2025-03-23

Keywords: Economic plants, Green spaces, Medicinal and industrial plants, Resistance to aridity, Salt tolerance,

Abstract :

In the last few decades, many non-native plants have been introduced to the flora of the Central Plateau, especially in the green spaces. The present study aimed to identify and understand various ornamental members of 62 diverse plant families in the central plateau of Iran. Many medicinal plants have been used in hand-planted green spaces in desert areas due to their tolerance to salinity and adaptability to arid and semiarid climates. Creating urban green spaces with the plants introduced in this research conserves and restores biodiversity and brings many ecological and economic benefits. The concern of the research was on plant identification and exploring the economic importance of these species. Through detail- oriented fieldwork and observation, the identified plants were categorized into their respective families, providing valuable insights into the rich biodiversity of the central Iran. The economic importance of these plants was thoroughly examined, considering their applications in medicine, landscaping, traditional uses, and potential commercial uses. Out of these 158 studied species, in terms of medicinal and edible uses, 116 species have edible uses, 149 have medicinal uses, and 110 have both edible and medicinal uses. In this study, a model was designed to evaluate aesthetic values and economic services (food provisioning; natural medicines, pharmaceuticals; and wood, fiber production) for 158 ornamental studied species. Using the Ecosystem Services Evaluation Model presented in this study to compare the aesthetic values ​​and economic benefits of ornamental species provides a guide for selecting plants in green spaces. The model ranking Aesthetic Value and Economic Benefits in four level: Low (<1.5), medium (<2.5, >1.5), high (<3.5, >2.5), and very high (>3.5). The main motto of selecting the ornamental flowering plants is to highlight the uses of the plants and their species in various industries rather than just beautifying the gardens and landscapes.

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