Dicotyledonous Plants of Uttar Pradesh : A Checklist

Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. Climate. 2. Soil. 3. Plant collection. 4. Forest cover. 5. Vegetation. 6. Present work. Enumeration. Selected bibliography. Index.

From the preface: "Uttar Pradesh, lying in the northern region of the country and covering Western Himalaya and Upper Gangetic plain, harbours a very rich and diverse flora. Its unique phytogeographical position, topography and good precipitation are some of the important factors which are mainly responsible for high degree of plant diversity. The occurrence of different types of forests, ranging from alpine to tropical and consequently the establishment of one biosphere reserve, viz. Nanda Devi biosphere reserve and five national parks in the state are of considerable interest. Although the state has been botanically surveyed since 1796, but the complete flora of the state is not yet available. Simultaneously, being highly populated state of the country, the natural vegetation has been continuously and increasingly under pressure owing to developmental projects and non-judicious exploitation of plant resources. As such even before an inventory of the plant resources of the state could be undertaken, the ecological disasters might have taken the toll of several species. Keeping these points in view vis-a-vis several fragmentary reports published, an attempt has been made by the authors to prepare a check-list of the dicotyledonous plants of the state which can serve as a precursor to the flora of the state. It is hoped that this publication will be highly helpful to the botanists, especially taxonomists, foresters, environmentalists, agriculturists, horticulturists, pharmacologists and planners in their researh and management programmes. In a voluminous work like this dealing with the nomenclature of more than 4000 species, some errors are likely to occur. We shall appreciate if these are brought to our notice for rectification in future."