Jyoti K Sharma I Amit K Tripathi I Mohd Ahmad
Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
School of Natural Sciences
Shiv Nadar University
Published March 2018
ISBN: 978-93-87387-00-3
Jointly Published by Shiv Nadar University and Siya Publishing House, Delhi
Foreword written by Prof Rupamanjari Ghosh, VC, Shiv Nadar University
As a first step towards conservation and sustainable utilization of biodiversity, work on biodiversity documentation was undertaken in Chithara Village Panchayat, Dadri Tehsil, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh to prepare a model Biodiversity Register since so far no efforts have been made to prepare the People’s Biodiversity Register for Chithara as mandated in the Biological Diversity Act (2002).
The biodiversity documentation of Chithara Village Panchayat gave us an opportunity to carry out the detailed floristic study of the area, including the rich flora of SNU Campus also located in the Panchayat surrounded by wetlands and agricultural fields.
Authentic identification/recognition of plants in the field is a major challenge, especially when there are a large number of vernacular and common names for the same species as well as different plant species have the same common name. Hence, it was decided to bring out a monograph/ book on floristic diversity of the area, which will also form part of the Biodiversity Register of Chithara Village Panchayat. Basically, the Book is the outcome of this study on Biodiversity documentation conducted in Chithara Village Panchayat.
Flora of a Chithara Village Panchayat recorded a total of 272 plant species under 203 genera belonging to 69 plant families in 770 ha area of Chithara Village Panchayat showing high richness of floristic diversity. Flora of the SNU Campus having an area of 115.74 ha recorded a high proportion of 227 plant species belonging to 175 genera under 62 plant families (ca. 83%). The flora recorded for the first time species belonging to Pteridophytes (Fern allies), Equisetum ramosissimum Desf. and Equisetum ramosissimum subsp. debile (Roxb. ex Vaucher) Haukein from SNU Campus and Uttar Pradesh. Also, some of the rare plant species such as Emex australis Steinh, Phyllanthus tenellus Roxb. and Ludwigia hyssopifolia (G. Don) are new records for Uttar Pradesh and NCR.
For the first time the Book provides original photographs of all the plants recorded in the flora to facilitate field identification of plants illustrating morphology of leaf, flower and fruits besides their common names, vernacular names in Hindi and Sanskrit, habit, habitat, distribution and taxonomic description. Also provided for each species are chemical properties, medicinal properties and folklore and traditional medicinal uses which have been compiled from extensive literature search. The book also provides a Glossary of medical and taxonomic terms used as well as an appendix giving the properties of medicinal plant species used for various diseases and ailments in traditional and folk systems of medicines.
The book will be equally useful to undergraduate and postgraduate students, teachers, and researchers of Botany/Plant taxonomy/ Ethnobotany/ Ayurveda/ Biochemistry in Colleges and Universities in India and elsewhere and it is expected to generate interest in local plants diversity, their conservation and sustainable utilization.
