Abstract:
The status of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonization and spore density was critically examined in twenty medicinal herbs belonging to fourteen angiospermic families. All the plant species examined were colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi having colonization levels ranging from 10 percent in Achyranlhus aspera belonging to family Amaranthaceae to 94 percent in Justicia procumbens belonging to family Acanthaceae. Spore number ranged from 10 spore/100g rhizosphere soil in Ludwigia linifolia belonging to family Onagraceae to 382 spores/100g rhizosphere soil in Leucas aspera belonging to Lamiaceae. A total of twenty arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species belonging to four genera viz., Acaulospora, Gigaspora, Glomus and Scutellospora were recorded.
