The present publication of Flora of Maharashtra State: Dicotyledones is in continuation of the Volume I published in January 2000. In the first volume, 70 families have been treated besides exhaustive introductory chapters. This second and final volume deals with the systematic treatment of 91 families (Combretaceae-Ceratophyllaceae) comprising 1319 species, 13 subspecies, 67 varieties and 4 formae belonging to 527 genera occurring in wild and also 437 cultivated taxa. Line drawings of 143 plants and 32 colour photographs have been rendered. At the end of this volume, additions which were noted later, to those already treated are given. A total of 46 species, 2 subspecies, 17 varieties and 3 formae belonging to 21 families (of which one family viz., Grossulariaceae) are new additions to the Flora. In cultivated category, 91 species, I subspecies and 7 varieties have been added. With the publication of this second volume, the entire Angiosperm Flora of the State is made available to all those interested in knowing the rich floristic wealth of the state.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR N P Singh
DR. N P SINGH, Ex-Director, Botanical Survey of India was born on 15th August, 1941 in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, got his basic education at Lakhaoti in Buland Shahr district and his graduation and post-graduation (with merit) from Agra College of Agra University, Agra while his Doctorate degree was obtained from Pune University, Pune in Plant Taxonomy and Floristics. His field of specialization has been Plant Taxonomy, Floristics, Phyto-Geography, Conservation, Economic Botany and Ethnobotany. After a very brief stay at a Degree College as a Lecturer at Shamli in Muzaffarnagar District, he joined Botanical Survey of India in 1961 at Dehradun and stayed put for nearly 40 years until his retirement in 2001 from Kolkata. During this period he was mostly at Pune but for short durations at Jodhpur, Royal Botanic Gardens, KEW (U. K.) and for last few years at Kolkata, heading as its Director. He has so far published or edited 27 books and nearly 160 papers, which includes:2 volumes on Flora of India besides revising the families Clusiaceae, Asclepiadaceae and Periplocaceae (a few more smaller families are to be published); 10 volumes on the State Floras of Maharashtra (3 vols.), Karnataka, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh (2 vols.), Mizoram, Manipur and of Jammu and Kashmir besides 2 volumes on the Flora of Eastern Karnataka, Grasses of Maharashtra and Sedges of Karnataka plus Mangroves of Goa and Plant wealth of Andaman & Nicobar Islands in Hindi; 2 volumes on District Floras; 2 volumes on Floristic Diversity and Conservation Strategies in India, one on the Ethnobotany of Dadra, Daman and Nagar Haveli, one on Endemic and Threatened Plants of Maharastra and another on the Biodiversity of Western Ghats. His papers are published in various National and International journals- many dealing with grasses describing those of Karnataka and Maharashtra, besides about a dozen new taxa and new distributional records covering Biodiversity in all his specialized fields. A few more books are under publication. During his long innings in B.S.I. he as Principal Investigator has handled and completed many projects of Govt. of India on subjects like Ethnobotany, Bio-prospecting of biological wealth, Validation of threatened plants of India, Inventorization of medicinal plants of India, Flora of Protected Areas of India (Phase I)-Biosphere Reserves and National Parks and Database of the Herbarium Specimens and Live Collections of B.S.I. Dr. Singh has guided 9 post-graduate students for Ph.D. degree, 1 has just submitted his thesis while 1 more is about to submit, besides 1 student for M. Sc. Degree. He was awarded a merit increment in 1977 by the Department, "Vishist Vaigyanik Puraskar" in 1993-94 by Govt. of India and Prof. B. A. Razi Medal for 2000 by the Association for Plant Taxonomy (APT). He has served as President of Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT) for 2001 and for Association for Plant Taxonomy (APT) for the years 2001-05. He was also elected as an Asian Member, Plants Committee of CITES (UNEP) from 2001-04. Dr. Singh has traveled widely to various countries of the world. He is a Life Fellow of the Indian Botanical Society for nearly 4 decades since 1966. He is a Life Founder Member, Vraksh Samwardhini (Tree Conservation),Maharashtra. He is a Life Member of the Association for Plant Taxonomy (APT) and Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT). He is now enjoying his retired life at Ghaziabad (U.P.), though very much concerned with the subject.
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