In addition to the dominance of indigenous plant species, the grasslands of Nilgiris harbour a considerable number of exotic plants with sizeable number of individuals. In the present study in four major grasslands of Nilgiris, out of 12 exotic species present, 10 are recognized as medicinally important. The family, Asteraceae contributed a higher number of 6 medicinal species to the grassland community. The density of exotics in the studied grasslands is varied between 4 and 66/ha. In order to conserve the native species, the frequent harvesting of useful parts of exotics is suggested. In addition cultivation of these exotics in the degraded grasslands and other suitable habitats in Nilgiris may also reduce the pressure upon the native species and at the same time it will also meet the demand.

Lycianthes bigeminata Bitter (Solanaceae) is an important medicinal herb distributed in the sholas of Nilgiris and chiefly used for curing ulcer. It is reported that the species is present in the sholas with poor population size in comparison to other constituent species. Owing to the demand and subsequent exploitation, it is predicted that it may occupy still poor association in the sholas of Nilgiris in course of time. Hence in vitro regeneration through employing tissue culture technique is needed. The preliminary attempt in the present study reports that the MS medium supplemented with Benzyl Amino Purine (BAP) and Naphthalene Amino Acid (NAA) at 0.5 mg/l each, induced effective callus formation. However further studies on hardening is suggested to know the survivability of this species.

Berberis tinctoria Lesch. Is an endemic plant to high hills of Nilgiris having lot of medicinal properties. For its better conservation through mass multiplication, attempts have been made to standardize tissue culture technology. The results of the study exhibited that the basal medium containing BAP and NAA each at 0.5 mg/1 was found to be the optimum for callus formation. Shoot proliferation was highly effective in the basal medium supplemented with BAP at 0.5 mg/1. The root initiation was maximum in the basal medium containing the NAA at 1.0 mg/1 and the plantlet establishment was successful in the hardening medium composed by vermiculite and soil in the ration of 1:1.

There plant species of medicinal and vegatational fire break importance such as Berberis tinctoria, Elaegnus kologa and Rhodomyrtus tomentosa were identified in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and their eco-physiological behaviors were analysed. The study revealed that generally all the there species were having shorter period of seed dormacy, poor viability of seeds and higher mortality of saplings. These poor eco-physiological features are the major factors for their limited distribution, lesser population and weaker establishment. Hence to overcome these factors the modern reproductive strategies like tissue culture techniques are suggested.

Grass Hills ecosystem lies in Anaimalais. The western ghats possesses rich biodiversity, The annual summer fire, an integral part of this ecosystem, promotes the ecological status of certain perennial grasses including the dominant grass. Chrysopogon zeylanicus Thw. On the other hand, some medicinal plants Viz., Impatiens tomentosa Heyne, Drosera peltata Sm Osbeckia parviflora Arn., Emilia sonchifolia Dc. Lecanthus penduncularis Wedd. And Lobelia nicotianifolia Heyne were identiflora Arn. Emilia sonchifolia Dc. Lecanthus penduncularis wedd and lobelia nicotianifolia Heyne were identified as fire threatened species and it has been observed that their sociological attributes were hampered severely by fire. Hence, the conservation of such species is needed through effective fire control measures.