Abstract: In order to enrich the military herbal resource database in western Hunan,and better develop and utilize the materia medica resources for military purposes,the toxic plant resources of military materia medica in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture,Zhangjiajie City and its surrounding areas were statistically analyzed through field investigation and literature review.The results show that there are 203 species,belonging to 136 genera and 67 families of poisonous plants in Western Hunan;life habits are mainly of perennial herbs.The habitat is dominated by forest.As for the distribution,the number of poisonous plants increases first and then decreases with the increase of elevation.In the horizontal distribution,the abundance of poisonous plants in the northwest of Hunan is higher than that in the south.The differentiation of geographical elements from the family level to the genus level and then to the species level has gradually become larger.At the family level,most of the poisonous plants in western Hunan can be found around the world;at the genus level,most of them are distributed in the north temperate zone;at the species level,the dominant species are of east Asian species (endemically distributed in China).The majority of toxic plants are of whole-part toxic plants with small toxicity.The toxicological effects are mainly nervous system toxicity and mucosal irritation toxicity.

Key words: poisonous plants, plant resources, military herbs, western Hunan