Flora of Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh

Contents: Preface. I. General introduction. II. The Great Himalayan National Park: physical and biological attributes: 1. Location. 2. Topography. 3. Geology and soil. 4. Climate. 5. Vegetation. 6. Flora and fauna. 7. Local people and land use practices. 8. History of management. 9. Previous explorations and floristic studies. 10. Present study. III. General observations: 1. Floristic structure and species diversity. 2. Ethnobotany of the local people. 3. Discussion. IV. Key to the plant families. V. Treatment of families. Appendix: 1. List of ferns collected from GHNP. 2. Plants of ethnobotanical importance. References. Index to botanical names. Index to common names.

"This flora deals with the systematics, ecology and conservation aspects of the vascular plants Angiosperms and Gymnosperms found in and around the Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh. The work is based on the extensive field surveys conducted by the authors in the area and valuable information collected by them on the distribution and local uses of various species. The general introduction deals with the physical and biological attributes of the park. This is followed by a field key to the identification of the families represented in the flora and systematic enumeration of the taxa (128 families, 427 genera and 832 species) recorded in the area by the authors. The species of doubtful occurrence in the area have been listed at the end of each family. To aid the identification of the species key features and references to the illustrations given in the flowers of Himalaya (by Polunin and Stainton) have been given. In addition, over 40 colour pictures showing interesting plants and landscapes of the park have been given." (jacket)