Language: English
The floristic richness of the North Eastern Region of India is known to all, where orchids are one of the major components of the vegetation with about 800 species; nearly 191 species of orchids grow in Assam. As far as orchid studies in the state of Assam state are concerned, no comprehensive account of its orchid flora is available, although there are some interesting publications that enumerate species and describe rare and threatened taxa and cultivation aspects for Assam in general and Southern Assam in particular. It should be noted that several areas of Southern Assam (e.g. the Barak Valley) still remain unexplored. Orchid Flora of Southern Assam Diversity and Their Conservation (Barak Valley) is an effort to fill up this lacuna in our knowledge on orchids.
The present work includes 60 species belonging to 28 genera from the Barak Valley in Southern Assam. It describes one new record for India, five new records for Assam, and one rediscovered record for the state. Species and genera described in this book are based on fresh collections. Illustrations are also made by the authors from type specimens. Synonyms of the taxa are given in the text since many of the species are known by different synonyms. An artificial key to genera has been provided.
It is hoped that the book will be a helpful tool for the identification of orchids of this region, not only for taxonomists, but equally for horticulturists, forest officials and other orchid lovers, and will thus help in conserving this rich resource of orchids.