XVI International Botanical Congess

Armenia is mountainous country and the most part situated on arid and semi-arid highlands.Flora of Armenia comprises approximately 3500 species of plants. In spite of rich diversity of plant species,botanical resoures are strong limited. The analysis of botanical,ethnomedical and other sources of information suggest that the species of Cardueae Cass. were used in food and folk medicine in different regions of the Republic from ancient time. Cardueae in Armenia is one of the largest tribes comprising 25 genera and 175 species.The results of our studies showed that some species of genera Centaurea, Cirsium, Serratula, Carduus, etc. have sufficient stocks as raw material for pharmaceutical, food, flavour and other related industries.