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Priyanka Agnihotri , Saumya Sharma , Veena Dixit , Harsh Singh , Tariq Husain

Abstract

Ethnobotanical investigations, carried out in 6 sacred groves of Pithoragarh district in Kumaon Hiamlaya, during 2009-2010, revealed therapeutic application of 32 plant species representing 31 genera and 20 families. 18 species of herbs are used by the local people to cure various ailments (56.25%) followed by shrubs with 8 species (25%), climbers 3 species (9.37%) and trees 3 species (9.37%). Family Asteraceae is dominant over the others with 6 species followed by Rosaceae with 3 species, Amaranthaceae, Malvaceae, Cleomaceae, Menispermaceae with 2 species while many other families contribute one species.

Keywords

Ethnobotany, Conserved Patches, Ethnomedicinal Plant, Sacred Groves

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Harsh Singh , Pushpi Singh , Tariq Husain

Abstract

Sacred groves are small or large patches of vegetation dedication to local ancestor or deities and often represented climax vegetation of the region. Haat Kali sacred grove. which is newly reported, is one such example in having important medicinal plants and many non - medicinal plants. The grove covers an area of 1.7 approximately and consists of 22 species belonging to 22 genera and 22 families of medicinal plants which are not found in the other parts of the district at the same altitude of 1750 ro. It is important to conserve this type of grove in having maximum genetic diversity of medicinal plants by strong steps.

Keywords

Sacred Grove, Haal Kali Sacred Grove, Medicinal Plant, Conservation

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S. K. Jain ¹, Harsh Singh ²

Affiliations
1 26-A, Avas Vikas colony, Mall Avenue Colony, Lucknow - 226001, IN
2 Plant Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, IN

Abstract

Carl Linnaeus gave names to 7700 species of plants, including several hundred plants from India. He based some generic and several hundred specific epithets on India, its states, towns, rivers, languages, edible, medicinal and other properties of plants, as also legends about faith and traditions. The paper gives about 150 examples of such generic or pg specific epithets. An analysis of present status of genera of flowering plants in India and the genera founded by Linnaeus shows that over 25 percent Linnaean genera occur here. It is remarkable that out of some 3500 notable useful plants in India, again about 25 percent are Linnaean binomials. Such rich representation of Linnaean genera and binomials within one country may be an unmatched figure. Considering phytogeographic aspect, some Linnaean species are even endemic and several are now even believed to be RET taxa. A closer study of etymology of names listedin Appendix may result in establishing ischolar_mains of some more names in Indian languages and life.

Keywords

Linnaeus, Species Plantarum, Binomial, India, Etymology.

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Priyanka Agnihotri ¹, Tariq Husain ¹, Pramod Arvind Shirke ², Om Prakash Sidhu ³, Harsh Singh ¹, Veena Dixit ¹, Anzar Ahmad Khuroo ⁴, Devindra Vijay Amla ⁵, Chandra Shekhar Nautiyal ⁶

Affiliations
1 Plant Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow-226 001, IN
2 Plant Physiology Department, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow-226 001, IN
3 Phytochemistry Department, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow-226 001, IN
4 Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar-190 006, IN
5 CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow 226 001, IN
6 Division of Plant Microbial Interactions, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow 226 001, IN

Abstract

As broad-scale distributions of plants are shaped by climatic conditions, changes of climate necessarily result in shifts of distributional limits. These shifts are closely coupled with changes in plant ecophysiology, growth and productivity. Among environments subjected to the highest increase in temperature in the last decade and the greatest expected warming predicted for the future, high-mountain biomes belong to the most frequently considered. Evidence for distributional shifts has been mostly documented in European and American mountains, while the largest and highest mountainous areas are located in Asia. The present study aims to detect climate change-driven shifts in elevation and ecophysiological traits of endemic herb species of Himalaya with the help of herbarium specimens as potential tool. We observed significant rapid upward elevational shift of 55.2 m/decade compared to average global shifting of 6.1 m/decade and impulsive variations in secondary metabolite concentration. Significant negative relationship was found for stomatal density, δ¹³C with the lapse of years. Analysis of instrumental temperature data reveals an increase of 0.31°C in mean maximum and 0.79°C in mean minimum temperature during the last century.

Keywords

Climate Change, Distributional Shift, δ¹³C, Himalayan Plants, Metabolites, Stomatal Density.

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