pune of the sixty plants recently identified as critically endangered endangered and vulnerable in the state by the ministry of environment and forest city botanists said that 30 are found in and around pune out of the 30 plants four varieties grow in the city 17 can be located in pune district and nine around it said the expertsbotanists say that a majority of these varieties are herbaceous and endemic confined to a specific habitat or locality they are small in size usually not more than a feet in height unfortunately despite being part of flora these plants are neglected since they are of no particular use to mankindamateur botanist shrikant ingalhalikar told toi that these plants have no medicinal value these herbs are basically of no use since they have no medicinal value this is why people do not care to protect them most are not garden plants and are not fibrous however these plants should be conserved as every specie has an equal right to exist he said less than 100 plants of each specie in the list can be found for example aponogeton bruggenii critically endangered is found in a private coconut garden in kudal near ratnagiri districta majority of the plants on the list are tuberous and bulbous ingalhalikar said they are also ephemerals have a short life cycle sprouting with the first rain and lying dormant for the remaining season the monsoon is the right time to see them as many of these are flowering plantsexplaining the decline he cites two examples from the list of critically endangered plants the crinum brachynema has one feet long tubulb and is grown in mahableshwar looking at the size of the bulbs people often carry them back home but these plants do not grow in home gardens as they survive only in specific habitats similarly crinum woodrowii a herb that has fragrant flowers is found in amba valley he said on the other hand it is encouraging to know that these herbs that are inconspicuous plants of insignificant size have been given attention and have appeared in the list he addedingalhalikar has written two books flowers of sahyadri and further flowers of sahyadri that describes majority of these endangered plants from the list ankur patwardhan head of the biodiversity department at abasaheb garware college also said that a majority of the plants on the list are herbaceous and endemic for example aponogeton bruggenii critically endangered and aponogeton satarensis vulnerable are endemic jatropha nana vulnerable is peculiar to pune environs some possess wild edible tubers which is one reason why their number is going down he saidexplaining the conservation measures ingalhalikar said that postgraduate students of botany can form groups and work on conserving these plants with the help of a guide they can identify the plants cultivate them make seedlings and plant them in suitable habitatsisolated groups are working to conserve the plants but it is not enough frerea indica critically endangered which is found in purandar was