Inventory and ethnobotanical assessment of plant species in Lagos State University , Ojo campus , Lagos , Nigeria

Taxonomic surveys have been helpful in documenting the species that had one time or an other existed in different locations within the country (Anoliefo et al. 2006; Soladoye et al. 2005, 2013) and the value of any biodiversity analysis and the adequacy of conservation measures depend on the quality of basic data, as put by Valdecasas and Camacho (2003). Similar studies have also been used to document medicinal plants reported to be valuable in the traditional management of ailments in Nigeria and other West African countries (Asase et al. 2005; Bhat, Etejere & Oladipo 1990; Soladoye et al. 2014). Plants and animals are very important to human survival and thus need to be studied and taken adequate care of, because of their importance in maintaining the ecological balance of our region. Ogie-Odia et al. (2010) reported that forest diversity is increasingly threatened as a result of deforestation, fragmentation, climate change and other stressors. The rich flora diversity is a major source of raw plant materials that enable sustainability in the human communities now and in the future. In addition, research has equally shown that plant diversity could affect food web connectivity in a variety of ways (O’Gorman & Emmerson 2009). Higher plant diversity increases plant productivity and predator abundance (Haddad et al. 2009), which increases the amount of energy transfer among interacting species and thus increases food web connectivity. Consequently, such a measure should begin from the immediate environment and, hence, from our campus flora and fauna. Plants and animals are sources of food, shelter and clothing. A healthy ecosystem is built when it is maintained in a sustainable manner. Hence, this study was designed to establish the flora profile as well as to document the ethnobotanical values of plant species growing on Lagos State University main campus, Ojo, Lagos State, Nigeria with a view to develop strategies for their conservation.


Introduction
Taxonomic surveys have been helpful in documenting the species that had one time or an other existed in different locations within the country (Anoliefo et al. 2006;Soladoye et al. 2005Soladoye et al. , 2013) ) and the value of any biodiversity analysis and the adequacy of conservation measures depend on the quality of basic data, as put by Valdecasas and Camacho (2003).Similar studies have also been used to document medicinal plants reported to be valuable in the traditional management of ailments in Nigeria and other West African countries (Asase et al. 2005;Bhat, Etejere & Oladipo 1990;Soladoye et al. 2014).Plants and animals are very important to human survival and thus need to be studied and taken adequate care of, because of their importance in maintaining the ecological balance of our region.Ogie-Odia et al. (2010) reported that forest diversity is increasingly threatened as a result of deforestation, fragmentation, climate change and other stressors.The rich flora diversity is a major source of raw plant materials that enable sustainability in the human communities now and in the future.In addition, research has equally shown that plant diversity could affect food web connectivity in a variety of ways (O'Gorman & Emmerson 2009).Higher plant diversity increases plant productivity and predator abundance (Haddad et al. 2009), which increases the amount of energy transfer among interacting species and thus increases food web connectivity.Consequently, such a measure should begin from the immediate environment and, hence, from our campus flora and fauna.Plants and animals are sources of food, shelter and clothing.A healthy ecosystem is built when it is maintained in a sustainable manner.Hence, this study was designed to establish the flora profile as well as to document the ethnobotanical values of plant species growing on Lagos State University main campus, Ojo, Lagos State, Nigeria with a view to develop strategies for their conservation.
Lagos State University, Ojo, was established in the year 1983 by then governor of Lagos State Mr Lateef Jakande and was located along Badagry Expressway, Ojo.In the beginning of her academic carrier, the university started with three faculties, namely Law and Humanities, Education and Science.Today, the university has 11 faculties and is to increase to more than that in the nearest future.In early 1984, the surrounding areas were highly forested and swampy and composed of varieties of different flora of trees, shrubs and grasses but today the vegetation is Inventory and ethnobotanical assessment of plant species growing on Lagos State University (LASU) Ojo main campus, Lagos State, Nigeria, were carried out.The aim was to document the vegetation composition and ethnobotanical uses of plants in the study area with a view to developing strategies for their conservation.Plant species with their frequency of occurrence were compiled and their representatives were collected for proper identification.Ethnobotanical assessment was carried out through oral interviews of herbalists, herb sellers and others with experience in traditional medicine.A total of 35 plant species belonging to 25 families were recorded from the survey.Poaceae has the highest number of species; Anacardiaceae, Asteraceae, Asparagaceae, Combretaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae and Moraceae were all represented with two species each while the remaining 17 families were represented with one species each.Murraya paniculata recorded the highest frequency of occurrence within the study area with 165 individual plants followed by Ficus benjamina with 134 plants, then Ixora coccinea with 121 plants and Terminalia ivorensis with 103 plants.Anarcardium occidentale, Araucaria heterophylla and Ficus carica recorded the lowest frequency of occurrence with two plants each.The trees were the dominant plant habit (46%) followed by the shrubs (23%), grasses (17%) and herbs (14%).The plant species identified are of significant ethnobotanical uses ranging from food to medicine and ornamental.Effective conservation strategies for these plants include enacting laws against indiscriminate tree cutting, encouraging afforestation, proper maintenance of the parks and gardens and establishment of medicinal plant farms.Today, the old landmass has given way to new vegetation replacing indigenous and exotic vegetation.The planting of exotic vegetation started in 1990 by the then head of the Botany Department.Not all the indigenous vegetation has the capacity of self-regeneration.Nowadays, the university campus is well rehabilitated and it is very important that the composition of the vegetation, the regeneration capacity of the vegetation and the importance of the tree species are studied.

Study area
This study was conducted in Lagos State University, Ojo main campus, Lagos State, south-western Nigeria.It lies on latitude 6.26°N 3.11°S and longitude 6.467° W3.183°E (Figure 1).The area is characterised by various floras such as grasses, shrubs and trees.Trees are relatively dispersed and the vegetation is dominated by grasses and shrubs compared to trees.The terrain is flat and more than half is dominated by buildings.
The vegetation is largely affected by human activities.The study area was divided into eight sampling plots as follows: 1   of Botany, Lagos State University.Correct names of the identified species follow International Plant Name Index (IPNI).A comprehensive list of species was thereafter carefully documented, along with their families, habits and local names by which they are known within the study area.

Ethnobotanical assessment
Ethnobotanical information about the identified plant species was obtained through oral interviews.The interviews were conducted randomly with a total of 60 local respondents including herb sellers, herbalists, elderly people and others with knowledge of herbal medicine (Table 1).The consent of all the respondents was sought before the interviews.The interviews were held in local language (Yoruba); hence, there was no need for interpreters and this allowed accurate data recording.The information collected included the local names, ethnobotanical uses, the parts used, modes of preparation and administration of the identified plants.

Results
The profile of the local respondents interviewed for the ethnobotanical uses of the identified plant species on Lagos State University main campus is shown in Table 1.
Thirty-five plant species belonging to 25 families were found within the Lagos State University campus as shown in Table 2. Family Poaceae had the highest number of species (16%) followed by families Anarcardiaceae, Asparagaceae, Asteraceae, Combretaceae, Euphorbicaeae, Malvaceae and Moraceae with two species each (8%) while the remaining families were represented with one species each (4%) as represented in Table 3. Murraya paniculata recorded the highest frequency of occurrence within the study area with 165  4 .)Trees were the dominant plant habit, comprising 16 angiosperm species (46% of the total enumeration).This was followed by shrubs with eight species (23%), grasses with six species (17%) and herbs with five species (14%) as shown in (Figure 2).The identified plant species were of significant ethnobotanical values ranging from food to medicinal and ornamental as represented in Table 5.

Discussion
This study was able to compile the flora diversity on Lagos State University campus.In the various sampling plots, plant species varies in diversity and occurrence; T. ivorensis and Ficus bejamina were well dominated in all the plots.This work is related to the flora in Bowen University Iwo, Osun State, where research was conducted on the angiosperm diversity, (Anoliefo et al. 2006;Soladoye et al. 2005).Similar survey was conducted which was based on some medicinal plant species of Southwestern University Nigeria campus, Ogun State, Nigeria; a total of 90 plant species belonging to 48 families and 85 genera were recorded in which Euphorbiaceae has the highest number of species (8) followed closely by Asteraceae (6) and Papilionaceae (5 species) (Soladoye et al. 2013).Similar survey was conducted on the endangered tree species in Cross River State and its environs; 85 endangered tree species were reported (Oguntala et al. 1996).
Plants found in the study area are of significant economic importance, ranging from medicinal to food and ornamental.Similiar to the results of the ethnobotanical assessment of the identified plant species, some of the plants in the study area have been reported to have significant ethnobotanical values.Acalypha wilkesiana for skin irritations and diseases (Omage & Azeke 2014), Azadirachta indica for malaria (Alzohairy 2016), Cycas revoluta as antimicrobial (Mathur et al. 2011), Cymbopogon citratus as anti-diarrhoeal (Shah et al. 2011), Dieffenbachia seguine as ornamental (Cuartas & Farfan 2006), Eucalyptus globulus for cold, coughs and nasal congestion (Patil & Nitave 2014), Gmelina arborea as laxative and anti-helminthic (Pathala, Harini & Hedge 2015), Mangifera indica as food and antioxidant (Parvez 2016), Musa paradisiaca for diabetes (Kumar et al. 2012), M. paniculata as anti-inflammatory (Dosoky et al. 2016), Vernonia amygdalina as purgative, antioxidative and chemopreventive (Farombi & Owoeye 2011) and so on.This justifies the importance of plant species in the maintenance of ecosystem and as a source of livelihood for man; hence, these must be conserved properly (Soladoye et al. 2015).

Conclusion
This study showed that Lagos State University is in plant biodiversity that are of significant ethnobotanical value; thus, the need to conserve them from further deterioration because of human activities is very paramount.From this investigation, there are many important medicinal plants found in the study area which could serve as sources of raw materials to pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries as well as other manufacturing industries in Nigeria and globally.Bio-prospecting in this area would lead to income generation for the university community.Medicinal plants identified also have marketing potentials; therefore, efforts should be geared towards creating an enabling environment for their existence and preventing overexploitation.Indigenous knowledge of these medicinal plants should also be properly preserved so that such would not be lost.Deforestation which is a major problem in the study area should be discouraged and afforestation practices encouraged in the area.Construction work and developmental projects should consider plants species found in the study area and proper analysis should be done before commencement of such projects.

Acalypha wilkesiana
Used to treat skin irritations and diseases in children

Anacardium occidentalis
Treatment of fever, diarrhoea, hypotension and sore throat

Andropogon gayanus
Valuable hay and green fodder grass and also used for weaving grass mats and thatching

Axonopus compressus
Curative herbal bath and to treat heart problems

Azadiractha indica
Treatment of skin diseases, healthy hair, improve liver function, detoxify the blood, pest and disease control, fever reduction, dental treatments, cough, asthma, ulcers, piles, intestinal worms and urinary diseases

Carica papaya
Treatment of high blood pressure, dyspepsia, constipation, amenorrhoea, general debility, expel worms and stimulate reproductive organs

Canna indica
Treatment of gonorrhoea and amenorrhoea; also considered to be demulcent, diaphoretic and diuretic

Codiaeum variegatum
Treatment of fever, antibacterial and antiamoebic

Cordyline fruticosa
Used to soothe sore back muscles and to aid nerve and muscle relaxation

Cycas revoluta
Used in the treatment of cancer

Cymbopogon citratus
To treat rheumatic pains, fever, flatulence and digestive disorders

Delonix regia
Ornamental and also used in the treatment of earache, constipation and diabetes

Dieffenbachia seguine Ornamental
Eucalyptus globulus Treatment of cough, cold and catarrh

Ficus benjamina
Treatment of wounds, bruises and rheumatic headache

Ficus carica
Edible and also used as anti-inflammatory agent

Gmelina arborea
Improves appetite and used for the treatment of ulcers, headache, abdominal pains and urinary tract discharge

Imperata cylindrica
To treat digestive disorders and as anti-helminthic

Ixora coccinea
Used for dysmenorrhea and skin diseases

Mangifera indica
Treatment of malaria and fever; also used as anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent

Murraya paniculata
Ornamental and also used as anti-inflammatory and anti-diarrhoea

Musa paradisiaca
Edible and used for the treatment of gastric disorders

Polyalthia longifolia
Ornamental and used for the treatment of fever

Rheo discolour
Used for cough, colds and nose bleed

Sanseviera trifasciata
Treatment of ear pains, boils and fever

Sida acuta
Treatment of asthma, ulcers and veneral diseases; also used as anti-helmintic

Terminalia catappa
The fruits are edible while the leaves are used as anticancer, antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory

Terminalia ivorensis
To treat skin diseases, inflammation and voice loss

Tithonia diversifolia
Used for sore throat, malaria, bruises and fractures

Vernonia amygdalina
Edible and also used medicinally to treat fever, malaria and purgative, anti-diabetic chemopreventive and immune booster

Field
collection and identification of plant species occurring within the university community was conducted between June 2015 and November 2016.The occurrences of plant specimens in each zone were recorded.The collected plant species were identified by plant taxonomists in the Department

FIGURE 1 :
FIGURE 1: Map of Ojo Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State showing the location of the study area.

Lagos State University, Ojo campus, Lagos, Nigeria Read online:
. Faculty of Management Sciences and Iyana-Ipaja gate.2. Faculty of Education, Faculty of Social Science and Faculty of Transport.3. Faculty of Science.4. Sports Centre and Student Affairs Division.5. Master of Business Administrative and Information Communication and Technology (ICT) area.6. Faculty of Law.7. Faculty of Art. 8. Central administrative blocks and Iyana-Iba gate.

TABLE 1 :
Distribution of local informants in accordance with their age groups.

TABLE 2 :
Distribution of plant species in Lagos State University campus.
individual plants followed by Ficus benjamina with 134 plants then Ixora coccinea with 121 plants and Terminalia ivorensis with 103 plants.Anarcardium occidentale, Araucaria heterophylla and Ficus carica recorded the lowest frequency of occurrence with two plants each (Table

TABLE 3 :
Species distribution within the identified families.

TABLE 4 :
Frequency of occurrence of plant species on Lagos State University campus.
FIGURE 2: Distribution of plant habit within Lagos State University campus.

TABLE 5 :
Ethnobotanical uses of identified plant species in Lagos State University campus.