Ecology of Leonotis nepetifolia l. In Lodna area of Jharia coal field

Author(s): Subir Kumar Khawas*, P. K. Mishra

Abstract

Leonotis nepetifolia L., a plant of family lamiaceae grows extensively in coal fields and even in stressful conditions like fire area and O.B. dump area. So the present study was designed with the objective is To study the ecology of Leonotis nepetifolia L. growing in different locations like fire area, subsidence area, OB dump area, road side and control area of Lodna coal mines (Jharia coal field) of Dhanbad district, Jharkhand. Present study shows better adaptation of Leonotis nepetifolia in stressful conditions in terms of its morphological characters and biomass. An increase in fresh weight and decrease in dry weight in various disturbed locations clearly indicated that ultimate productivity of plants reduced in adverse conditions of coal mine areas. A high fresh weight of plants in disturbed locations may be because of strategy to overcome the adverse ecological condition by absorbing and accumulating more water. A low BGP may be because of the presence of various toxicological elements and other physical conditions of the soil. An increase in some of the morphometric parameters of Leonotis nepetifolia may be because of stress response of plants which has been reported in various other conditions as well. However possibilities of some evolutionary adaptation of this plant cannot be completely ruled out. A detailed investigation and extensive research work is required to properly infer the results obtained during this study.

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