Central Asia and Kashmir : Archaeobotany and Floristics/P. Kachroo. 1995, 162 p., figs., col. plates, $36.
Contents: 1. Introduction. Section I: Archaeobotany: 2. Archaeo-palaeoclimatic perspective: I. Arthropology. II. Archaeology. III. Palaeoclimate. Section II: Floristics: 3. Botanical regions: I. Central Asia. II. Botanico-geographical regions of central Asia. III. The Mediterranean region. IV. Pamiro-Alai. V. Western & central Asia region: Genera with single species; Central Asia (i) Kazakhistan. (ii) Uzbekistan. (iii) Kirgiz. (iv) Tadjikstan. (v) Turkmenia. VI. Afghanistan: Geobotanical regions; Natural vegetation. VII. Kashmir Himalayan region: Present flora of Kashmir; Genera with single species. 4. Endemism: I. Central Asia: Western Tien Shan; Middle Asian mountains province. II. Afghanistan. III. Hindukush. IV. The Himalaya: Kashmir. 5. Distribution patterns of endemics in Kashmir Himalaya: I. Families with endemics. II. Genera with endemics. 6. Genera with endemics in central Asia. 7. Sino-Japanese-Himalayan perspective: I. Sino-Japanese elements. II. Sino-Himalayan elements. III. Japano-Himalayan elements. IV. Kashmir-W Chinese-E Himalayan elements. 8. Floristic affinities: I. Affinities to adjacent regions. II. Families and genera with maximum species. III. Endemic diversity. IV. Sino-Japanese-Himalayan remarks elements. V. Concluding. References. Appendices. Index.
"Kashmir lies on the main route of migration between Gondwana and Angara continents and the flora of this region assumes special interest; and this lead Sahni (1938) to state that it shows close affinity with the Siberia flora than to that of the Peninsular Gondwana. He observed that Glossopteris flora in Kashmir reaches to within a few degrees of the Angara flora in the USSR; and that Kashmir was only an out-post of Angaraland (Sahni, 1926). He also (1935) had suggested that obvious relations with Angara flora especially as regards Kashmir where a transitional flora indicates northward migration cannot be over-ruled. There however was need for a critical comparison of the Siberian and Indian floras to assess the degree of affinity to clarify notions regarding the relations best."