Flora of Barhal valley (Yusufeli) and its close environs

This study has been carried out between 2013-2014 in order to determine the flora of Barhal Valley (Yusufeli) and ıts Close Environs. The research area under review is taken place in Colchic province of Euro-Siberian floristic area of Holarctic region and is found in the A8 square according to grid system of Davis. The study area lies between 600 and 3352 m elevation above the sea level. In this study, total 593 plant taxa belong to 100 families and 328 genera were determined. 19 of them belong to Pteridophyta, the remaining 574 taxa were Spermatophyta which included 9 taxa from Gymnospermae and 565 taxa from Angiospermae. The largest families recorded were as follows: Compositae (65 taxa), Poaceae (60 taxa), Rosaceae (34 taxa), Lamiaceae (31 taxa), Leguminosae (28 taxa), Brassicaceae (24 taxa), Apiaceae (23 taxa), Boraginaceae (18 taxa), Caryophyllaceae (17 taxa) and Campanulaceae (14 taxa). The percentage of phytogeographical origins of 291 taxa was determined. The distribution of the taxa according to the phytogeographical regions was as follows: Avrupa-Sibirya with 235 taxa (%39,6), Iran-Turan with 45 taxa (%7,6), Mediterranean with 11 taxa (%1,9) and multiregional or of unknown phytogeographic origin with 302 taxa (%50,9). The life form spectrum of the taxon was as follows: Hemicryptophytes 159 taxa (%27), Cryptophytes 109 taxa (%18,4), Phanerophytes 66 taxa (%11,1), Chamaephytes 62 taxa (%10,4) and Therophytes 52 taxa (%8,75). Endemism is % 7,1 and included 42 endemic taxa and 57 non-endemic rare plants. The endemic plants and non-endemic rare plants in the study area have been classified according to IUCN threat catagories. Key Words: Flora, Barhal, Colchic region, Yusufeli, Endemic.