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Flora of Ladakh: An Annotated Inventory of Flowering Plants

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Biodiversity of the Himalaya: Jammu and Kashmir State

Part of the book series: Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation ((TOBC,volume 18))

Abstract

The flora of Ladakh is influenced broadly by altitude and climate; more significantly by the soil, drainage, and microclimate. The present work is based on more than 20,000 plant specimens collected from Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir State, since 1975. Critical study of these collections has revealed presence of 1085 species of flowering plants from the Ladakh region. These species belong to 370 genera in 74 families. Of these, 808 species under 283 genera and 62 families belong to dicots, while 277 species under 87 genera and 12 families belong to monocots. Poaceae is the most dominant family and is represented by 184 species, followed by Asteraceae with 122 species, Fabaceae and Brassicaceae with 77 species each, Cyperaceae with 51 species, Scrophulariaceae with 43 species, Lamiaceae and Ranunculaceae with 40 species each, etc. At the generic level, Astragalus comprises the maximum number of 35 species, followed by Carex with 28 species, Poa with 27 species, Nepeta with 24 species, Corydalis with 20 species, etc. Herbs account for 1010 species, shrubs 48 species, trees 13 species, under-shrubs 11 species, whereas climbers and twiners have 2 and 1 species, respectively.

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Acknowledgement

Authors are thankful to Dr. Paramjit Singh, Ex-Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, for his encouragement and for providing facilities during the course of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botanical Survey of India, Central Regional Centre, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Achuta Nand Shukla

  2. Botanical Survey of India, Northern Regional Centre, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

    S. K. Srivastava

Authors
  1. Achuta Nand Shukla
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  2. S. K. Srivastava
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

    Ghulam Hassan Dar

  2. Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India

    Anzar A. Khuroo

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Shukla, A.N., Srivastava, S.K. (2020). Flora of Ladakh: An Annotated Inventory of Flowering Plants. In: Dar, G., Khuroo, A. (eds) Biodiversity of the Himalaya: Jammu and Kashmir State . Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation, vol 18. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9174-4_26

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