Evaluation of the natural plant taxa in alpine rocky habitats in terms of the functions of planting design

Alpine areas that have valuable and sensitive ecosystem in terms of biodiversity are the unique elements of the natural landscape with different habitats. One of them is the rocky habitats. Many plant species living in alpine and rocky habitats, especially their attention to aesthetic properties has begun to take place in planting design with demands of the people in the course of time. In this study, 12 alpine rocky areas were examined in Hatila Valley National Park (Artvin) that can be viewed at different scales and various rocky habitats also have the striking rich floristic diversity. As a result of field work, 187 plant taxa, 12 of which are endemic, with 40 families identified in sample rocky areas. Species composition of taxa was identified by the cluster analysis. In this context, native taxa identified in sample areas were classificated according to morphological and aesthetic characteristics (color, texture, form, life form). Some taxa which can be used as an ornamental plant, and their function (structural, focus-emphasis, fill-support) in the plant composition was presented with a suggestion table