Ferula assafoetida is considered as a medicinal plant that is used for the treatment of different diseases because of its different chemical compounds. The plant has been commonly used in various regions of Iran since the old times. The purpose of the present study was introducing this plant and identifying its ecological properties such as geographical location, soil pH, and potassium, sodium, phosphorus, and nitrogen contents as well as the texture of its habitat and the distribution of the variability of the plant in terms of morphological and physiological properties in three distant populations in Fars, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, and Khuzestan. To this and, Ferula assafoetida plant and soil samples were collected from the natural habitats of the three provinces and the morphological features including the height of the plants, the length and width of the leaves, the diameter of the stems, the dried and fresh weights of the plants, and the physiological features including chlorophyll, carbohydrate, protein, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium contents of shoots were studied. Results showed that Khuzestan habitat was reicher than the other two habitats in terms of clay, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents of soil was more than the other two sites. Also, results of morphological study of the plants in this habitat showed higher average fresh weight, plant height, weight, length and width of leaf and stem diameter. Moreover, with an increase in the height from the sea level, the length, width, height and dried and wet weight of the plants decreased while the stem diameter increased. Furthermore, with an increase in the height from the sea level traits such as phosphorus and sodium contents decreased while potassium, carbohydrates, chlorophyll, and protein contents of leaves followed an increasing trend.
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