48BOTANIC GARDENS: SUITABLE HABITATS FOR CONSERVING MEDICINAL PLANTSThe present study highlights importance of botanic gardens for conserving the medicinal plant resources of our country. A total of 16 species of uncommon medicinal plants belonging to 12 families and 14 genera were conserved in the Government botanic garden, Udhagamandalam (Ooty). It also represents a potential source of natural products for treating various diseases.binuthomasct@gmail.comResearch412014Botanic gardens,Habitats,Conserving,Medicinal plants Jaya Vijayan,Ramachandran VS,Binu ThomasDepartment of Botany, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.,Department of Botany, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.,PG Department of Botany, Deva Matha College, Kuravilangad, Kottayam-686 633, Kerala, India.