with climate change becoming an increasing threat to all living creatures, regardless of whether it is part of a natural cycle or escalated by human greed, it is obvious that conservation and environmental awareness have become a matter of extreme urgency. We must change our lifestyles to reduce the effects of climate change as much as possible.
The work on this book has been on my mind since the 1980s when I became aware that it was virtually impossible to identify the trees and plants of the southern Western Ghats and the upper Palni plateau with any degree of ease, as there was little relevant and topical material available for the visitor or interested novice. Guesswork was often the only way of learning. The five excellent volumes of The Flora of the Palni Hills was published as recently as 1999 by Father K.M. Matthew, whose life was devoted to botany. He was the world authority on the flora of the area. Sadly his life was cut short in 2003 at the age of 72. However, as a botanist of merit. his work is both scientific and extensive and the volumes are huge. For the layman visitor or resident it would be challenging to identify the common plants or trees. So I felt that an easy and small field guide would help those interested in the subject.
Although much of the vegetation of the Western Ghats is varied, the more common indigenous and introduced species are present all over the hills and can be seen in the Coromandels, the High Ranges, the Anamalais, the Nilgiris, the Cardamom hills and the Palnis. This book covers many of the common species. I have not, however, included extreme rarities as they are becoming so scarce, and the gene pool so limited, that many are on the brink of extinction. In many cases, this was because local collectors used to remove large numbers of rare plants indiscriminately, particularly orchids such as Aerides crispa and ringens, from Sholas and sell them to unsuspecting and often ignorant tourists. The result was that in most cases they died of neglect thus reducing the gene pool even further. This book covers many species that are often seen and easily recognised. Much of the information is from around the southern Western Ghats where I have lived for more than 30 years.
I have tried to make the book easy to read and understand and it is divided into three parts: trees, shrubs (including climbers) and herbs. I have also indexed the plants using common English names or those that seem applicable when no other name was available. A comprehensive glossary has been added for those who would like to study more. I have also put in leaf structure diagrams, as recognising plants is often based on leaf structure, especially when flowers or fruits are not available to help identification.
I have included as many vernacular names as I could find, wherever possible. But these are often restricted to South Indian languages, although I have included North Indian languages as well when I could find them. The Tamil names are often the local ones and not necessarily the more refined ones. In any case this will help locals understand when they are asked about them. Photographs of each species are also included. In many cases I have also been able to find some excellent line drawings dated 1915 from Philip Furley Fyson's The Flora of the Nilgiri and Pulney Hill-Tops (above 6,500 feet). Many of the beautiful drawings were done by Philip Fyson's wife Diana Ruth Fyson.
The index gives the scientific names along with the common English names. I have tried to lay out the material in an easily understood format and included interesting facts wherever possible. At the top of each page 1 have given the name of the family to which the tree, shrub, or herb belongs and the botanical name consisting of the genus and species. I have also included the initials or names of the eminent botanist(s) who first identified and classified those plants. An additional note gives the number of species in a genus recorded in Father K.M. Matthew's The Flora of the Palni Hills, or The Excursion Flora.
I hope this volume will be of use to those who love flora and help them in recognising the plants I have covered.
There are huge varieties of floristic species in the mountains of the Western Ghats. Although I have mentioned only 210 of them, I would like to consider this a work in progress and that further volumes may be added later. It may be noted that many of the common species are exotic, introduced, prolific, and often invasive.
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