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Language: English
Orchids in the Himalayan belt are a hot topic since the subject came to the fore in the context of their exploration, conservation and multiplication. The present book is a part of a floristic inventory work carried out in different regions of the Himalayas with special reference to the Nokrek biosphere reserve. The book is divided in 4 sections and 17 different subsections. A section on “introduction and review of family Orchidaceae” (Chapter 1-2) deals with the study area, people, forest types, vegetal composition, structure of flowers and inflorescence, growth parameters, diversity and distribution. This section also reviews the literature and the renowned work done by botanist in different epochs. The second section on “diversity and floristic documentation” (Chapter 3) highlights the analysis of floristic occurrence, habitat endemism. threat, conservation and medicinal aspects. The last section “taxonomic enumeration” (Chapter 4) gives an artificial key to 70 genera and describes the morphology of 140 species along with keys for easy identification. This section also includes upto-date taxonomic citations, phenology, habitat, chromosome number, conservation status as per the IUCN, and distribution.
The approach taken here is one of detailed critical study of species complexes, with careful attention to their morphological characters. The book contains 77 coloured photographs, 40 herbarium photos, and 11 illustrations on orchid species for easy identification and authentication, and to serve as a taxonomic guide for future research. Descriptions have been kept brief for common species and elaborated for rare/endemic species.
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
List of Photoplates xi
List Herbarium Photographs xv
List of Figures, Tables and Map xvii
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Location, physiography and climate of study area
1.2 People and land use pattern
1.3 Forest types and vegetation
1.4 Faunal diversity
2. Review of Family Orchidaceae 16
2.1 Orchid flower structure
2.2 Orchid inflorescence
2.3 Growth and vegetation parts
2.4 Diversity and distribution
2.5 Literature reviews
3. Diversity of Orchids of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve 25
3.1 Floristic analysis
3.2 Occurrence and habit
3.3 Endemic and threatened orchids
3.4 Conservation
3.5 Medicinal orchids
4. Taxonomic treatment 71
4.1 Artificial key to families
4.2 Taxonomic enumeration
Selected Bibliography 199
Index to Botanical Names 209
Dr. Bikarma Singh (born March 1, 1981), an Honours and Gold Medalist in Botany graduated from North-Eastern Hill University (Meghalaya), took his Ph.D. in Botany from Gauhati University (Assam). He has about nine year’s research experience in the field of systematic botany, plants germplasm conservation, ethnobotany, and plant studies related to environmental impact assessment. Most of his work devoted in botanizing two globally biodiversity hotspots: the Himalayas, and part of the Indo-Myanmar (Northeast India) which possesses an extraordinary diversity due to its varied climatic conditions and altitudes. He is a reviewing member of several national and international scientific journals, and till to-date has more than forty publications to his credit published in various reputed national and international peer reviewed journals. Presently, Dr. Singh is working as a Scientist in CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu – a constituent of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, coming under Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. His current research interest focused in studies on forest ecology, sustainable use of medicinal and aromatic plants, floristic inventory (taxonomy) from unexplored areas of Himalaya and IUCN categorization of endangered plant species.
