Documentation of biodiversity is one of the main purposes in ecological studies. Writing any taxonomic guide (flora, monograph, pictorial guidebook) is a step forward for documentation, and in biodiverse countries like India, such guides make further biodiversity studies easier. While floras or monographs are useful for taxonomists/scientists, pictorial field guides can help a layperson in learning and identifying trees.
North-east India is one of the rich biodiverse areas in India, but floristically, it is still less explored and documented. The location is at the interface of Himalayan and Indo-Burma biogeographical realms. Interactions among factors like wide elevation gradient with variable climatic condition and topography makes it the most plant-diverse area in India. However, apart from a few regional floras and plant monographs, there is no comprehensive pictorial field guide for identification of common trees from this part of India. With our field guide of trees, we hope that nature and plant enthusiasts as well as visitors can learn, identify and engage with the trees around the low elevation forests of Arunachal Pradesh. Many tree species covered in the book also occur in low-elevation forests of Assam and other parts of North-east India, while some also occur in other parts of mainland India.
THE BOOK: Trees of Arunachal Pradesh: A Field Guide
Authors: Navendu Page, Aparajita Datta and Bibidishananda Basu
Design: Kadambari Misra; Janhavi Rajan
Plant Illustrations: Meena Subramaniam
Glossary/Key illustrations: Janhavi Rajan; Saniya Chaplod
The book is authored by three seasoned field biologists, bringing their collective experience of two decades in field botany and forest ecology of North-east India.
PDF for free download
We wanted to make the book more accessible to all free of cost, therefore on the 1st anniversary of publishing, we are making the book available as a pdf free to download.
Please click here to download a high-res or a medium-res pdf.
This 591-page photographic field guide to the Trees of Arunachal Pradesh features more than 1500 photos of 241 species of trees, shrubs, and a few climbers. ‘Keys’ provided in the book help the reader navigate through pages and to the species identity. These ‘keys’ are based on easily observable characters such as leaves, flowers, and fruits. These keys help with the comparison of species that are similar looking, thus helping to get past the lookalikes and identify the plant of interest quickly.
The species pages which form the bulk of the book, give an account of the species’ ecology and utility, along with images of the plant parts and its global conservation status. There is an exhaustive index of vernacular names used in several different local languages, that can also guide you to find the correct species of interest. There is also a scientific name index with the authority.
All these user-friendly and aesthetic features make this book an attractive resource for botany students, naturalists, plant explorers, and tree watchers as well as researchers, field staff of the Forest Department and the people of Arunachal Pradesh and more widely in the North-eastern region of India.
Northeast India is one of the rich biodiverse areas in India, but floristically, it is still less explored and documented. The region is located at the interface of Himalayan and Indo-Burma biogeographical realm. The wide elevation gradient with variable climatic condition and topography makes it the most plant-diverse area in India. However, apart from a few regional floras and plant monographs, there is no comprehensive pictorial field guide for identification of common trees from this part of India. With our pictorial field guide to trees, we hope that nature and plant enthusiasts as well as visitors can learn, identify and engage with the trees around the low elevation forests of Arunachal Pradesh. Many tree species covered in the book also occur in low-elevation forests of Assam and other parts of North-east India, while some also occur in other parts of mainland India.
Book publishing and availability/sale
This book was first published in January 2022 with 680 copies printed.
A few errors were noted after printing which are listed below. In September 2022, these errors were corrected, and an additional 900 copies were printed.
Hard copies of the field guide are available for sale here:
https://ncf-store.zohocommerce.in/products/trees-of-arunachal-a-field-guide/1638627000000207578
Price: Rs. 1190 (includes postage)
Errata
1) The species Ficus punctata is misidentified, correct species is Ficus fistulosa
2) The species Helixanthera parasitica is misidentified, correct species is Helixanthera ligustrina.
3) For Platea latifolia, in the species description, the leaf arrangement should be alternate while it is written as opposite.
4) For Tabernaemontana divaricata, in the species description, the leaf arrangement should be opposite while it is written as alternate.
International orders: For interested overseas buyers (outside India), please contact Storyteller Bookstore, Kolkata, India to order copies.
Contact details:
Mayura +91 - 9331051191