Flora of the Mandi District Himachal Pradesh North West Himalaya

About this book

Language: English

Mandi District so one of the central districts of the Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, and is rich in floristic diversity due to its geographical location, wide-ranging altitude (500 m to over 4000 m) and climatic conditions varying from subtropical to alpine types. However, the detailed floristic account of this biodiversity-rich district of Himachal Pradesh is still to be accomplished.

The present work is the first serious attempt in this direction. This Flora is based on several years of extensive and intensive botanical explorations and study of taxonomic literature and exsiccata in different Indian herbaria. In addition to a comprehensive floristic account of the existing vegetation, the book provides lucid taxonomic details on 1371 species spread over 782 genera and 161 families of angiosperms and gymnosperms recorded from the area. The families are arranged according to Bentham and Hooker´s system of classification with certain modifications based on recent knowledge. The keys to the families, genera and species are simple and easy to follow for correct identification. The brief description of plants includes habit, vegetative and floral characters, the period of flowering and fruiting, frequency of distribution in the area, habitats and range in terms of elevation, followed by collector name and field number. Information on local and Sanskrit names, utilization aspects and threat status of medicinal and other useful plants have also been provided. The nomenclature of all taxa was updated following authentic databases, like International Plant Names Index (IPNI), GRIN, The Plant List, Tropics and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). A few line drawings and about 150 colour photographs of important plants of the area have also been included.

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