Flora of Cold Desert Western Himalaya, India: Vol. 2

Contents: Foreword. Preface.  1. Introduction. 2. Vegetation. 3. Adaptation for survival strategies. 4. Threatened, endemic species. 5. Medicinal plants. 6. Economic plants. 7. Floristic diversity. 8. List of the families and number of taxa. 9. Systematic enumeration. References. Index to botanical names.

Cold deserts are fragile ecosystem in the rain shadow regions of Trans Himalayan zone characterized by extreme low temperature, great diurnal fluctuations, scanty and erratic rainfall and heavy snowfall. It covers only about 2% of total land surface. The total are of cold desert is approximately 98,660 sq. km. of this about 82,665 sq. km in Jammu and Kashmir, about 15,000 sq. km. in Himachal Pradesh and nearly 1000 sq. km in Uttarakhand. Specialized habits like cushion or mat forming, diminutive and bushy habits, plants with deep penetrating tap root system, presence of thick and silvery hairy indumentums are some of the key adaptations in cold desert. The Flora of Cold Desert of Western Himalaya, volume 2 provides a detailed floristic account of 1268 taxa, which comprises Pteridophytes (22 species, 1 subspecies, 16 genera and 10 families) Gymnosperms (15 species, 1 variety, 6 genera and 3 families) and Angiosperm (1158 species, 29 subspecies, 41 varieties, one forma distributed under 384 genera and 72 families). Currently accepted names along with synonyms, detailed taxonomic description, phenology, ecological notes and specimens examined were provided. This flora will be useful to botanists, ecologists, environ-mentalists, foresters, agriculturist, students and teachers of botany and the people working on other aspects of plant sciences pertaining to this region. (jacket)