Vascular plant diversity in the sacred grove of Modapalli in Viskhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh, India

Sacred groves are tracts of virgin forest with rich biodiversity, as they have been protected for centuries by the local people for their cultural and religious beliefs and taboos. Sacred groves are representatives of climax vegetation and exhibit diversity of species such as trees, climbers and other shade loving herbs. In the present investigation, an attempt was made to study the diversity of a sacred grove of Modapalli, Visakhapatnam District, which comes under the Eastern Ghats of India. A total of 207 species, 181 genera and 78 families comprising pteridophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms were reported in the sacred grove. In this study, only one endemic species, i.e., Ophiorrhiza chandrasekharanii and a few threatened species were recorded.