Perspectives of Plant Biodiversity : Proceedings of National Seminar on Plant Biodiversity Systematics Conservation and Ethnobotany Department of Botany North Bengal University November 9-11 2000

Contents: Preface. I. Plenary lectures: 1. Origin of life and consequent biodiversity through the ages/S. Chanda. 2. Biodiversity assessment using remote sensing and geographic information system/P.S. Roy. II. Floristic studies: 3. Genus Momordica L. in India: diversity and conservation/Niraj Kumar and A.K. Pandey. 4. The genus Curcuma L. in India: resume and future prospects/J. Skornickova and M. Sabu. 5. Aquatic macrophytes of Apalchand reserve in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal/Suchandra Dutta, Abhijit Naik-Desai, S.M. Almeida and A.P. Das. 6. Computer—based herbarium sheets and their uses in plant identification/P. Tetali, Sujata Tetali and Manish Lale. 7. Floristics and phytosociology of the moist deciduous forests of Central Kerala, India/T. Jayanarayanan and A.R.R. Menon. 8. Sub-tropical epiphytic vegetation on three tree species in Sikkim/Debabrata Maity, Abhijit Maity and G.G. Maiti. 9. The genus Piper L. in Arunachal Pradesh: a systematic account/P.R. Gajurel, P. Rethy and Y. Kumar. 10. Taxonomic analysis of the genus Kyllinga Rottboell (Cyperaceae) from Andhra Pradesh, India/K. Indira and R.R. Venkat Raju. 11. Analysis of the flora of Neora Valley National Park in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India/P.C. Rai and A.P. Das. 12. The floristic composition of alpine wetlands of East Sikkim/B.K. Shukla, A.S. Chauhan and G.P. Sinha. 13. The Lichen genus Cladonia P. Browne in Sikkim/G.P. Sinha and A.S. Chauhan. 14. Oberonia parvula King et Pantling (Orchidaceae)—a new record for Nepal/Lokesh R. Shakya, Abishkar Subedi and Ram P. Chaudhary. 15. Sikkim Himalayan Ericaceae/Paramjit Singh. 16. Rubiaceae of Darjeeling Himalaya: recent observation/A.P. Das, Sauris Panda, R.B. Bhujel and Renu Minda. 17. The grasses of Dharwad and its adjoining areas/K. Kotresh. III. Nomenclature: 18. Floristics and nomenclature/K.S. Manilal. 19. Nomenclature in Indian plant taxonomy/K.N. Gandhi and S.J. Padayatty. IV. Systematics and phylogeny: 20. Taxonomy and taxonomists/P.K. Mukherjee. 21. Seed morphology of Primula L. Sect. Petiolares Pax (Primulaceae) of the Himalayas of Indian region/Sandip Kumar Basak and G.G. Maiti. 22. Morphological studies and systematic evaluation of floral arrangement and anatomical features of culms and leaves of seven species of Carex L. (Cyperaceae)/M. Mukhopadhyay and G.G. Maiti. 23. Embryological contribution to the systematics of Euphorbiaceae: a cladistic approach/A. Chaturvedi. 24. Pollen diversity among the angiospermic climbers in the flora of Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas/A.K. Samanta and A.P. Das. 25. Classification and affinities of the genus Cinnamomum Schaeffer based on micro-morphological structures/A. Baruah and S.C. Nath. 26. Biochemical profiles of tea from different geographical regions of India/U. Chakraborty, S. Dutta and B.N. Chakraborty. 27. Molecular insight into adh gene and their transplanted products with an objective to assess the prospect of using them in phylogenetic studies of angiosperms/R. Chakraborty, B. Kanjilal and K.B. Datta. 28. Taxonomy and evolution of actinorhizal plants and their microsymbionts/A. Sen and B.S. Bajwa. 29. A contribution to the pollen-flora of tropical West Bengal as an aid to vegetational history and aerobiology/Swati Gupta Bhattacharya, K. Bhattacharya, P. Chakraborty. G.C. Bishayee, I. Choudhury and S. Chanda. 30. Floral micromorphology of some Indian Asteraceae and its implications in taxonomy/N. Paria and S. Chinya. 31. Synopsis of Alysicarpus Desv. in India/D.S. Pokle. 32. Morphological diversities and taxonomic significance of cypselar features in the genus Aster L. (Astereae – Asteraceae)/N. Basak and S.K. Mukherjee. V. Distribution and conservation: 33. Biodiversity conservation in India/N.P. Singh and H.J. Chowdhery. 34. Biodiversity characterization in Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh using remote sensing and GIS/S.P.S. Kushwaha, M.D. Behera and P.S. Roy. 35. A foliar disease of Streptocaulon sylvestre Wight – an endemic and endangered Asclepiad/A. Saha, S. Mazumdar, P. Roy Chowdhury and D. Saha. 36. Botanic gardens: historical background, types and their activities in present day context/P. Sahu and T.R. Sahu. 37. Pattern of plant species diversity and endemism in Kalakad – Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu/J. Ray and G.S. Rawat. 38. Species diversity in the habitat of Streptocaulon sylvestre Wight- an endemic and critically endangered Asclepiad/A.F.M. Manzur Kadir and A.P. Das. 39. Endemic status of the dicotyledonous flora of Darjeeling district/R.B. Bhujel and A.P. Das. VI. Ethnobotany: 40. The role of ethnobotany in 21 century/P. Pushpangadan. 41. Ethnomedicinal plants of Koraput district, Orissa and their conservation/M.K. Misra and S.S. Dash. 42. Ethnic uses of some monocotyledonous plants in the Darjeeling Himalayan region/S.K. Rai and R.B. Bhujel. 43. Survey and ethnobotanical study of Desmodium Desv. of Bihar/Rajul Goel, R.K. Goel and B.N. Pandey. 44. Ethnobotanical studies on the wild leafy vegetables used by two tribal groups of Attappady, Palakkad district, Kerala/K.S. Manilal, M. Remesh and M. Kumar. 45. Status of plant biodiversity in Mawlong Syiem sacred grove of Meghalaya, North-East India/O.P. Tripathi, R.S. Tripathi and H.N. Pandey. 46. Medicinal plants of Similipal Biosphere Reserve – I/A.K. Pandey, S.D. Rout and N. Pandit. 47. Investigation on ethnic uses of Dioscorea spp. available in Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas and scientific evaluation of traditional practices/P.K. Basu and B. Gautam. 48. Kabi Sacred Grove in Sikkim—relevance to conservation/S.S. Dash and A.S. Chauhan. 49. Indigenous medicine and methods used as antidote by the tribals of Noradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, Sagar, M.P./G. Dubey, P. Sahu and T.R. Sahu. 50. Rubber [Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A. de Juss.) Muell.-Arg.] cultivation as a sustainable and profitable venture for rurals and tribals/M. Brahmam. 51. Scope of Makhana (Euryale ferox Salisbury) cultivation in less remunerable wetlands: a case study from West Bengal/S.K. Ghosh.

"This book , Perspectives of Plant Biodiversity, is the proceedings of the National Seminar on Plant Biodiversity – Systematics, Conservation and Ethnobotany, which was held in November 2000 in the Department of Botany, University of North Bengal. Over a hundred scientists from different corners of India including a few from other countries attended the seminar. As we believe, just the floristic explorations and naming newly recognised taxa are not the only duties of taxonomists. So, the present volume covered a much wider area including floristic studies, nomenclature, systematics and phylogeny, distribution and conservation, ethnobotany, etc. The first article, from the plenary lectures, by Prof. Sunirmal Chanda on the origin of life has rightly created a broad base for the presentation of topics in other branches. The present volume incorporated 51 articles covering different aspects of plant biodiversity. Articles from personalities like Drs. N.P. Singh, P. Pushpangadan, P.S. Roy, K.N. Gandhi, K.S. Manilal, R.S. Tripathi and many other senior and reputed scientists are certainly made the book informative and useful for the readers. Problems of nomenclature, conservation, ethnobotanical informations from remote areas, detailed systematic works, etc will certainly find interest among the readers. The articles in many sections are providing informations from outside the arena of conventional taxonomy, which include remote sensing, molecular biology, computer herbarium, etc. There are two articles that are also dealing with the lower group of plants. Articles are selected and presented in such a manner so that readers can trace an article of his/her choice quite easily. Quite a good number of colour photographs, maps, imageries etc. have certainly made the book more informative and useful." (jacket)