EXTENSION IN DISTRIBUTION RANGE OF RARE GENUS IPHIGENIA IN PEER PANJAL RANGE OF JAMMU & KASHMIR, HIMALAYA

In present study Iphigenia indica (L.) Kunth commonly called as “Indian grass Lilly” belongs to family Colchicaceae, as a new distribution record to the Peer Panjal range of Jammu and Kashmir Himalaya. The Genus Iphigenia was not documented earlier from this region of Himalaya; this is also for the first time the genus with species I. indica was recorded from the temperate region from oak forests and grasslands. The chief threats faced by the taxa are overgrazing, expansion of agricultural lands and early cutting of grasses hampering it from propagating its progeny and dispersal of seeds and hence delimiting its population.