The diversity and magnitude of Indian flora open a vast field of palynological research, both applied and pure. Angiosperm taxa occurring in India are estimated to be about 20,000; many among them are reportedly rare and endemic. Lack of sufficient knowledge in the palynology of present-day plants causes great amount of erroneous identification of many a fossil or other dispersed pollen. In India the study of pollen has a short history, traced back to 1947. But it did not gain the pace it deserved, which otherwise would have immensely contributed towards the preparation of the ‘Pollen Flora of India’. Moreover, pollen descriptions available for most of the Indian species are rather scanty. It is in this background the study made by Dr. T.S. Nayar on the ‘Pollen Flora of Maharashtra State’ has a special significance. The work gives exhaustive palynological account of 335 angiosperm taxa belonging to 264 genera and 81 families. Descriptions cover the nature of occurrence of grains, shape and size classes, polar and equatorial outlines, dimensions of apertures, mesocolpia, apocolpia, exine, ektexine, tectum, columellae, foot layer, endexine and sculpturing. More than 160 pollen types are recognised based on a given set of palynological characters. Pollen keys are provided to delineate each type. Keys to genera and species are provided. Arrangement of families follows the Takhtajan’s system of classification of flowering plants (1980). It is hoped that the work will be of interest to people working with pollen grains as such and to those studying plant taxonomy and phylogeny. It may also serve as an aid to others dealing with the identification of pollen types in relation to Quaternary palynology, Allergology, Apiculture, Oceanography, Archaeology and so on.
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