Flora of Udhampur

Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. Geology and soils. 2. Climate. 3. Places of tourist and religious interest. 4. Past and present work. 5. Field work and deposition of plant collection. 6. Vegetation. 7. The forests. 8. Special habitats and their flora. 9. Economic plants. 10. Plan of the flora. 11. Synopsis of the flora. Key to the families. Systematic enumeration. Index to local names. Index to botanical names.

"The present work on the Flora of Udhampur district provides an exhaustive information on the vegetational wealth of a botanically least explored areas of Jammu and Kashmir state. It encompasses the angiospermic plants besides principal vegetation types met within the district. it is a first comprehensive account, covering 807 species belonging to 495 genera falling under 119 families, based on several field trips by the authors during the years 1985-1988 and critical studies of earlier collections housed at DD, BSD and Regional Research Laboratory Herbarium, Jammu. Description and keys have been provided for easy identification of plants along with phenological and ecological notes on each taxon besides citing their up-to-date nomenclature based on latest code.

The area explored is rich in medicinal and other economical plants, many of which have come under the category of endangered/threatened plants in the era of dwindling biodiversity due to habitat destruction and over exploitation of economic plants. Hence this work is, therefore, very timely and records the endangered/threatened species of the district before many of these may get lost if timely measures are not taken to conserve them.

The present work overcomes in large measure the paucity of information on the Flora of Udhampur District and is bound to prove handy to plant taxonomists, foresters, phyto-chemists, naturalists besides students of botany of the area, in particular." (jacket)