FLORISTIC ANALYSIS
Since the Peninsular India being the part of the Gondwanaland in the
remote past, the flora have many similarities with that of S. America, Africa,
Malesian Islands, Madagascar, Australia and Antartica, which were parted off
from the Gondwanaland around 100 million years ago. Many species of plants
are found common with these countries especially South Africa, Sri Lanka and
Malesia and many plants seen in Peninsular India are true poly topic species
(Wood, 1974). Nayar (1980) had brought out several examples to substantiate
this view and the origin of Indian flora, and he was of the view that characteristic
flora of India is that of Peninsular India. The flora of Western Ghats stands
significant in Indian Flora because of high species diversity even in small areas.
Of the total number of 17,000 species of Angiosperms in India, Western Ghats
possesses more than 4000 species including many paleo-endemics (Nayar, 1982).
The present floristic study in Wayanad resulted in the collection,
identification and description of 2034 taxa of flowering plants in a total area of
2136 sq. km. The magnitude of the species diversity is clear when it is
compared with that of other regional and district Floras of Kerala (Table 2).
The total number of 2034 species belonging to 903 genera and 171 families
recorded from the area of present study form nearly half of the flora of the
Kerala state (4679 taxa) and more than 10 % of the flora of India. Among the 3
indigenous gymnosperms reported from Kerala, 2 were collected from the
district. They belong to the order Cycadales and Gnetales. Of the 2034 taxa,
Dicotyledons are represented by 1521 species belonging to 676 genera under
140 families, and Monocotyledons by 511 species belonging to 225 genera
under 29 families (Table 3, Figure 2). All the top ten families of Western Ghats
are well represented in Wayanad also, except few families like Asclepiadaceae
(Table 4, Figure 3). Fabaceae with 185 species in 68 genera is the largest
family followed by Orchidaceae with 165 species in 68 genera. Poaceae is the
third largest family represented in the district with 163 species in 65 genera.
Among the rest of the families Rubiaceae has 98 species in 36 genera,
Euphorbiaceae with 87 species in 36 genera, Asteraceae with 71 species in 41
genera, Acanthaceae with 67 species in 21 genera, Lamiaceae with 44 species
in 14 genera, Cyperaceae with 38 species in 12 genera and Myrtaceae with 33
32
species in 6 genera. Among the 169 families, 35 dicot and 8 monocot families
are represented by single species each.
Table 2. Comparison of the Flora of Wayanad with other regional floras of Kerala
Sl. No.
Name of the Flora Number of
species Number of
genera Area (km2)
1 Flora of Calicut District 983 566 600 2. Flora of Cannanore 1132 658 3,670 3. Flora of Palghat District 1355 732 4,400 4. Flora of Pathanamthitta 1249 658 2,697 5. Flowering plants of Thrissur forest 1225 703 1,041 6. Flora of Silent Valley 966 559 90 7. Flora of Malappuram District 813 511 3,548 8. Flora of Nilambur 1132 665 150 9. Flora of Alappuzha District 1111 617 1414 10. Flora of Thiruvananthapuram 1270 710 2,191 11. Flora of Periyar Tiger Reserve 1978 828 777 12. Flora of Agasthyamala Biological Park 1117 585 200 13 Flora of Parambikulam WLS 1432 801 274 14. Flora of Wayanad District 2034 903 2,136
Table 3. Flowering plants c in Wayanad district
Sub-group Families Genera Taxa Dicot 140 676 1521 Monocot 29 225 511 Gymnosperms 2 2 2 Total 171 903 2034
Table 4. Relative abundance of the top ten families in Wayanad district and Kerala
Wayanad Kerala Sl. No Family
Genera Species Genera Species 1. Fabaceae 68 185 93 381 2. Orchidaceae 68 165 79 269 3. Poaceae 65 163 118 409 4. Rubiaceae 36 98 55 243 5. Euphorbiaceae 36 87 46 181 6. Asteraceae 41 71 64 182 7. Acanthaceae 21 67 34 181 8. Lamiaceae 14 44 23 116 9. Cyperaceae 12 38 19 219 10 Myrtaceae 6 33 10 57
33
Figure 2. Composition of Angiosperms in Wayanad district.
1521
511
676
225
140
29
Dicots
Monocots
Taxa Genera Families
Except the Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Orchidaceae the monocots in general
are poorly represented. Out of the 511 monocot species, 366 species belong to
the above three families (72%). Similarly among the dicots, the Fabaceae,
Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Myrtaceae and
Acanthaceae constitute about 39 % of the total number of species.
A comparison of the 10 largest families in order of their species richness
and order of dominance with that of India (Hooker, 1904), Madras Presidency
(Gamble & Fischer, 1915-1936), the Western Ghats (Subramanyam & Nayar,
1974b.) and the Kerala (Sasidharan, 2004) shows that many of these families
are well represented in the study area, but the ranks are slightly altered.
Fabaceae, which forms the largest family in the Madras Presidency, take the
first position in the district, and in the Western Ghats and Kerala this is the
second largest family. Orchidaceae, which form the largest family in India take
the second position in the order of dominance in Wayanad district, where as in
Kerala and Western Ghats their position is third and fourth respectively.
Poaceae is the third largest family in the district, but in the Western Ghats
34
and Kerala Poaceae take the first position and in the Madras Presidency this is
the second largest family. Rubiaceae, fourth in the Indian and Kerala flora and
third in the Madras Presidency have come to the fourth position compared to
their seventh position in the Western Ghats flora. Euphorbiaceae, the fifth
largest family in the Indian flora and Madras Presidency, remain in the fifth
position in Wayanad district also. In Kerala this is the seventh largest family.
Asteraceae, one of the largest Angiosperm families in the world has come in
the sixth position in Wayanad compared to their eighth position in Kerala.
Acanthaceae is the seventh largest family in the district. In India and Kerala
Acanthaceae attain the sixth position and fourth in Western Ghats.
Lamiaceae, the nineth largest family in Kerala comes in the eighth position in
the district. The Cyperaceae, the fifth largest family in Kerala comes only in
the ninth position in Wayanad District and Myrtaceae is in the tenth position.
Figure 3. Relative abundance of the top ten families in Wayanad
185165 163
9887
71 67
44 38 33
7868 65
36 36 4121 14 12 6
020406080
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Taxa Genera
Top three families, Fabaceae, Orchidaceae and Poaceae, were critically
analysed with respect to their species diversity, endemism and rarity.
35
Fabaceae
Fabaceae, a predominantly tropical family with diverse group of plants is
well represented in Western Ghats with more than 95 genera and 400 species.
In the present study Fabaceae rank first in the order of dominance with 68
genera and 185 species under 3 subfamilies. Of this, Faboideae contains 122
species under 43 genera, subfamily Caesalpinioideae contains 38 species
under 13 genera, and subfamily Mimosoideae contains 25 species under 13
genera (Table 5). It was observed that the members of this family are
comparatively less in higher elevations and the diversity is more in moist
deciduous forest patches and open areas in the district. This family is
represented with a high degree of diversity in habit and habitat and includes
trees, sub-shrubs, herbs and climbers. There are 29 trees and 42 climbers
and some of the top canopy trees are Pterocarpus marsupium, Kingiodendron
pinnatum, Albizia lebbeck, Xylia xylocarpa, Dalbergia sissoides, D. latifolia, etc.
Some of the notable climbers/lianas are Derris brevipes, Derris canarensis,
Spatholobus parviflorus, Kunsteleria keralensis, Dalbergia volubilis, Dalbergia
malabarica, Entada rheedei, Mucuna monosperma and Peuraria tuberosa. The
largest genus is Crotalaria with 16 species, followed by Desmodium with 13
species. Other genus with 5 or more species are Cajanus (6), Dalbergia (6),
Flemingia (5), Indigofera (7), Smithia (6), Tephrosia (6), Vigna (5), Chamaecrista
(5), Senna (6), Acasia (6) and Albizia (5).
Out of the 185 species collected, 25 are endemic to Western Ghats and 18
species are restricted to southern Western Ghats. In the subfamily Faboideae
17 are Peninsular Indian endemic species including 11 southern Western
Ghat endemics. There are 6 species already been listed as rare and threatened
(Ahmedullah & Nayar, 1987; Nayar, 1997). These are Crotalaria bidie,
Crotalaria clarkei, Dalbergia malabarica, Derris benthamii, Indigofera constricta
and Kunstleria keralensis. Crotalaria bidie is a Western Ghat endemic rare
herb and in Kerala it was reported only from Wayanad district. Dalbergia
malabarica is a rare climbing shrub found in moist deciduous forest of the
district, and in Kerala it was earlier reported only from Thiruvananthapuram
district. Derris benthamii is an endangered climber with very restricted
population. Twelve species of this subfamily are common to Peninsular India
36
and Sri Lanka, and these species are Cajanus albicans, Dalbergia volubilis,
Derris benthamii, Indigofera constricta, Ormocarpum cochinchinense,
Pterocarpus marsupium, Rhynchosia cana, Pseudarthria viscida, Tephrosia
pulcherima, Tephrosia tinctoria and Vigna grahamiana. Seventeen species are
Indo-Malesian in distribution and some of these species are Crotalaria nana,
Derris scandens, Flemingia strobilifera, Tephrosia purpurea and Vigna trilobata.
Almost all other species have distribution in Tropical Africa, Java, southern
China, South America and Australia.
Among the 27 species of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae, 7 are endemic to
Western Ghats. These are Bauhinia phoenicea, Caesalpinia spicata, Cynometra
beddomei, Cynometra travancorica, Humboldtia brunonis, Kingiodendron
pinnatum, and Senna intermedia. Endangered tree species collected with
restricted population are Cynometra beddomei, Cynometra travancorica,
Saraca asoca and Kingiodendron pinnatum (Hilton Taylor, 2000). Two species
of this subfamily, Bauhinia racemosa and Chamaecrista kleinii are common in
Peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Indo-Malesian species found in the district
are Cassia fistula, Bauhinia malabarica, Caesalpinia cucullata and Caesalpinia
mimosoides. Except Archiodendron monadelphum var. gracile, all other species
of the subfamily Mimosoideae are pantropical in distribution.
Table 5. Details of the family Fabaceae represented in Wayanad district
Number of Genera 68
Number of Species 185
Number of species in Faboideae 122
Number of species in Caesalpinioideae 38
Number of species in Mimosoideae 25
Genera with more than 5 species 13
Species endemic to Western Ghats 25
Species endemic to southern Western Ghats 18
Number of tree species 29
Indo-Sri Lankan species 14
Indo-Malesian species 24
Rare and threatened species 14
Number of species endemic to Kerala 4
37
Orchidaceae
The present study on the flora of Wayanad district revealed the richness
and diversity of orchids of this area and in the order of dominance the family
Orchidaceae ranks second in the district. Ramachandran and Nair (1988) who
have studied the flora of Cannanore district covered some floristic regions of
northern part of Wayanad district and recorded 35 orchids from Chanthanathodu
and Thirunelli. Abraham and Vatsala (1981) had also mentioned Wayanad as
one of their orchid collection sites. In the area of present study, the family is
represented by 165 species belonging to 68 genera (Table 6). Of these, 59 species
belonging to 29 genera are terrestrial in habit, while 106 species in 39 genera
are epiphytic. The present record of 165 species of orchids from the district
became the highest number recorded from a district or Sanctuary in Kerala state
(Table 8). Oberonia with 17 species is the largest genus followed by Dendrobium
with 14 species. Habenaria and Bulbophyllum are represented with 12 species
each. Other genera with 5 or more species are Eria, Liparis, and Peristylus.
Among the 165 species collected, 15 species have been categorized as rare
and threatened (Joseph, 1977; Henry et al., 1984; Jain & Sastry, 1984;
Ahmedullah & Nayar, 1986; Nayar, 1997) including 8 Indian Red Data Book
listed species. They are Bulbophyllum aureum, Bulbophyllum acutiflorum,
Bulbophyllum elagantulum, Bulbophyllum mysorense, Bulbophyllum
fuscopurpureum, Cirrhopetalum neilgherrense, Coelogyne mossiae, Corymborkis
veratrifolia, Eria albiflora, Habenaria barnesii, Ipsea malabarica, Dendrobium
jerdonianum, Dendrobium microbulbon, Habenaria richardiana and Oberonia
brachyphylla.
Table 6. Details of the family Orchidaceae represented in Wayanad
Genera 68
Species 165
Epiphytes 106
Terrestrials 59
Endemic to southern Western Ghats 54
Endemic to Peninsular India 76
Endemic to Kerala 5
Species common to South India and Sri Lanka 37
Indo-Malesian 20
38
Among the 142 endemic orchids of Peninsular India (Sathish Kumar &
Manilal, 1994), 76 species are found in the district, which includes 57
epiphytes and 19 terrestrial species. Among these 54 species are endemic to
southern Western Ghats and Bulbophyllum silentvalliensis, Eria tiagii, Ipsea
malabarica, Kingidium niveum and Oberonia wynadensis are endemic to
Kerala part of southern Western Ghats. Genus with 5 or more species were
analyzed for their endemism (Table 7). Among those, Bulbophyllum and Eria
showed maximum representation of endemic taxa with 100% endemism,
followed by Habenaria with 79% and Oberonia with 61%.
Table 7. Genera with 5 or more species and percentage of endemism
Sl. No. Genus No. of species Endemics % of endemism
1 Bulbophyllum 12 12 100 %
2. Eria 6 6 100 %
3. Habenaria 12 11 79 %
4. Oberonia 17 11 61 %
5. Dendrobium 14 8 53 %
6. Liparis 8 0 0 %
7. Peristylus 6 2 20 %
All the 12 species of the genus Bulbophyllum occurring in Wayanad are
endemic to southern Western Ghats. These are Bulbophyllum aureum (listed in
Indian Red Data Book, narrow endemic to Wayanad region of the Western
Ghats), Bulbophyllum silentvalliensis (recently discovered species from Silent
Valley area of southern Western Ghats), Bulbophyllum tremulum, Bulbophyllum
elegantulum (an endangered epiphytic herb listed in Indian Red Data Book,
endemic to Wayanad part of the southern Western Ghats), Bulbophyllum
fimbriatum, Bulbophyllum acutiflorum (narrow endemic epiphytic herb listed in
the Indian Red Data Book), Bulbophyllum fuscopurpureum (an endangered
epiphytic herb endemic to the southern Western Ghats), Bulbophyllum
mysorensis (an endangered epiphytic herb endemic to the southern Western
Ghats), Bulbophyllum rheedei (reported only from Kerala), and Bulbophyllum
sterile.
39
Table 8. Comparison of Orchid diversity of Wayanad with that of other regional floras of Kerala
Name of the area No. of
species No. of genera
Reference
Kerala State 216 70 Manilal, K. S. & C. Sathish
Kumar, 1993.
Wayanad District 165 68 Present study Periyar Tiger Reserve 148 62 Augustine, J., 2000.
Silent Valley National Park 108 49 Manilal, K. S., 1988.
Parambikulam Wildlife
Sanctuary
77 44 Sujanapal, P., 2005.
Thiruvanthapuram District 74 43 Mohanan, N. & A.N. Henry,
1994.
Agasthymala Forests 74 41 Mohanan, N. & M.
Sivadasan, 2002.
Palghat District 73 42 Vajravelu, E., 1990. Shenduruny Wildlife
Sanctuary
70 44 Sasidharan, N., 1997.
Thrissur Forests 69 39 Sasidharan, N. & V. V.
Sivarajan, 1996.
Pathanmthitta District 50 30 Anil Kumar, N., et al., 2005.
Cannanore District 47 35 Ramachandran, V. S. & V. J.
Nair, 1988.
Nilambur Forests 39 28 Sivarajan, V. V. & P.
Mathew, 1996.
Thenmala Forest Division 25 18 Subramanian, K. N., 1995
Calicut District 10 9 Manilal, K. S. & V. V.
Sivarajan, 1982.
Alappuzha District 10 9 Sunil, C. N. & M. Sivadasan,
2009.
Among the 14 species of the genus Dendrobium found in different forest
types of Wayanad, 6 are endemic to Peninsular India and 2 are restricted to
southern Western Ghats. These are Dendrobium aqueum, Dendrobium
barbatulum, Dendrobium herbaceum, Dendrobium heyneanum, Dendrobium
jerdonianum, Dendrobium microbulbon (endangered epiphyte listed in Indian
Red Data Book), Dendrobium nanum and Dendrobium ovatum. All the 6 species
40
of the genus Eria collected from Wayanad are endemic to Peninsular India and
these are Eria albiflora (endangered epiphytic herb listed in Indian Red Data
Book), Eria exilis, Eria mysorensis, Eria pauciflora, Eria polystachya and Eria
tiagii (endemic to Kerala part of the southern Western Ghats, earlier reported
only from Silent Valley).
Habenaria Willd. is one of the largest pantropical genera of terrestrial
orchids. Among the 28 species recorded from Kerala, 12 are found in
Wayanad. Eleven species are endemic to Western Ghats and these are
Habenaria barnesii (red Data Book-listed endangered plant endemic to the
southern Western Ghats), Habenaria crassifolia, Habenaria heyneana,
Habenaria grandifloriformis, Habenaria longicorniculata, Habenaria longicornu,
Habenaria multicaudata, Habenaria perrottetiana, Habenaria rarifolia,
Habenaria richardiana and Habenaria roxburghii. Oberonia Lindl. is an Old
World genus of epiphytic orchids. Twenty five species are reported from Kerala,
of which 17 are found in Wayanad. Among the 11 Peninsular Indian endemic
species collected, 10 are restricted to the southern Western Ghats. These are
Oberonia anamalayana, Oberonia brachyphylla (endangered orchid listed in
Indian Red Data Book, endemic to the southern Western Ghats), Oberonia
brunoniana, Oberonia chandrasekharanii, Oberonia josephii, Oberonia
platycaulon, Oberonia proudlockii, Oberonia santapaui, Oberonia sebastiana,
Oberonia wynadensis (endemic to Wayanad part of southern Western Ghats)
and Oberonia swaminathanii (new species collected during the study).
Endemic species of the genus Kingidium found in Wayanad are Kingidium
mysorensis and Kingidium niveum. Endemic species of the genus Luisia found
in Wayanad are Luisia evangelinae and Luisia macrantha. Two endemic
species of the genus Coelogyne collected are Coelogyne mossiae (endangered
epiphytic herb listed in the Indian Red Data Book, which is endemic to
southern Western Ghats), and Coelogyne nervosa. Two Western Ghats
endemic species of the genus Propax are reported from Kerala, which are
found in Wayanad also. These are Propax jerdoniana and Propax reticulata.
Among the 5 species of the genus Seidenfia collected from Wayanad, Seidenfia
crenulata and Seidenfia intermedia are endemic to southern Western Ghats.
41
Other endemic orchids collected from Wayanad are Robiquetia josephiana,
Ipsea malabarica (an endangered orchid listed in Indian Red Data Book,
earlier reported only from Silent Valley), Seidenfadeniella rosea, Smithsonia
straminea, Trias stocksii, Aerides crispa, Anoectochilus elatus, Brachycorythis
splendida, Cirrhopetalum neilgherrense (an endangered epiphytic herb listed in
Indian Red Data Book, endemic to southern Western Ghats), Diplocentrum
congestum, Disperis neilgherrensis, Peristylus lawii, Flickingeria nodosa, and
Gastrochilus flabelliformis. Xenikophyton is a monotypic endemic genus of
epiphytic orchids represented by one species, Xenikophyton smeeanum, which
is found in evergreen forests of the district.
Poaceae
Poaceae stands third in the order of dominance and is well represented by
163 species belonging to 65 genera (Table 9). Among the 67 genera, Dimeria
has the highest representation with 10 species and the genus Ischaemum
stands second with 9 species. Genera Eragrostis and Panicum have 8 species
each and Arundinella has 7 species. Genera represented with 5 or more
species are Brachiaria, Cyrtococcum, Digitaria, Garnotia, Setaria and Paspalum.
Thirty five genera are represented by 1 species each. Tree grass, Bambusa
bambos is the dominant species, especially in the moist deciduous forests of
Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
Among the 163 species collected during the study, 40 species are endemic
to Peninsular India (25 % endemism), of which 26 are restricted to southern
Western Ghats. Species like Zenkeria jainii, Dimeria copiana, Dimeria
idukkiensis, Isachne henryi, Ischaemum malabaricum, Ischaemum
pushpangadanii, Ischaemum wayanadensis, Ochlandra scriptoria, Ochlandra
beddomei and Tripogon narayanii are endemic to Kerala. Among these species
Isachne henryi and Ischaemum wayanadense are restricted to the present
study area and Zenkeria jainii, Dimeria copiana and Dimeria idukkiensis are
earlier reported only from their type localities. Species like Garnotia
puchiparensis, Ochlandra setigera, Isachne setosa and Ochlandra beddomei are
considered rare and threatened.
42
Table 9. Relative abundance of grasses occurring in the study area, Kerala state and Sri Lanka
Area No. of genera No. of species
Wayanad 65 163
Kerala 103 296
Sri Lanka 136 340
Genera with ten or more species in Wayanad district
Of the 901 genera there are 25 genera with 10 or more than 10 species in
each (Table 10). They are Crotalaria (16), Impatiens (19), Oberonia (17),
Stobilanthes (17), Ixora (10), Leucas (12), Pogostemon (10), Cyperus (12),
Desmodium (13), Dimeria (10), Dioscorea (11), Ficus (15), Habenaria (13),
Syzygium (18), Diospyros (10), Eriocaulon (10), Ipomoea (15), Phyllanthus (11),
Litsea (10), Solanum (10), Blumea (10), Bulbophyllum (11), Dendrobium (13),
Lindernia (10) and Ischaemum (11). There are 88 genera with 5 or more species
and 479 genera represented by single species each.
In the Western Ghats, Impatiens with 86 species is the largest genus and in
the present study area also it is the genus with maximum number of species.
Of the 86 species reported from the Western Ghats, 76 are endemics. Except 5
species, which are seen throughout the Western Ghats, the rest are confined
to well marked endemic centres, viz. the Nilgiri-Wayanad, Anamalai-Pulney
Hills, Anamudi High Ranges and Thirunelveli-Agasthyamala Hills. Of the 86
species recorded from Western Ghats, 67 are reported to occur in Kerala. The
Wayanad district is one of the centers of Western Ghats with a high
percentage of endemism and among the 20 species of Impatiens collected
during the present study, 18 are endemic to Peninsular India. Among these,
11 species are endemic to southern Western Ghats. Impatiens crenata,
Impatiens acaulis, Impatiens dasysperma, Impatiens herbicola, Impatiens
lucida and Impatiens neo-barnesii are considered as rare and threatened
(Nayar, 1997; Ahmedullah & Nayar, 1986). Impatiens acaulis and Impatiens
scapiflora are scapigerous herbs and seen on wet rocks in evergreen forests
and grasslands. Impatiens lawsonii, Impatiens crenata, Impatiens jerdoniae
and Impatiens parasitica are epiphytic herbs on moss covered tree trunks in
43
high altitude shola forests (Chembra, Kurichiarmala, Brahmagiri). Impatiens
scabriuscula Heyne ex Roxb. is seen only in marshy areas of moist deciduous
forest (Muthanga).
Table 10. Genera with 10 or more than 10 species and number of endemic species
Sl. No. Genus Number of species No. of endemic species 1. Impatiens 20 18
2. Syzygium 18 11
3. Oberonia 17 11
4. Strobilanthes 17 14
5. Crotalaria 16 5
6. Ficus 15 2
7. Ipomoea 15 2
8. Habenaria 13 10
9. Dendrobium 13 7
10. Desmodium 13 1
11. Cyperus 12 -
12. Leucas 12 4
13. Bulbophyllum 11 11
14. Ischaemum 11 3
15. Phyllanthus 11 3
16. Dioscorea 11 6
17. Eriocaulon 10 5
18. Dimeria 10 7
19. Pogostemon 10 5
20. Lindernia 10 1
21. Litsea 10 9
22. Ixora 10 6
23. Blumea 10 1
24. Solanum 10 -
25. Diospyros 10 6
Syzygium is the second largest genus in the study area with 18 species.
Among the 11 endemic species collected, 8 species are endemic to southern
Western Ghats. Syzygium stocksii and Syzygium travancoricum are two
critically endangered species collected during the present study (Hilton Taylor,
2000). Oberonia, an Old World genus of epiphytic orchids, is well represented
44
in the present study area and is the third largest genus, the details of which
have already been given under the account on Orchidaceae. Oberonia
wynadensis is endemic to Wayanad district and is found in evergreen forests
of Brahmagiri and Makkimala. Strobilanthes with 46 species in Western Ghats
is represented with 17 species in the study area. All the 17 species of this
shrubby monocarpic genus are seen well flourished in the evergreen forests of
Wayanad. Among the 14 endemic species 11, are endemic to southern
Western Ghats.
Rare, endemic and threatened plants
India being a tropical country is very rich in floristic diversity as well as
endemism and constitutes 8% of the global biodiversity (Ahmedullah & Nayar,
1986). This is one among the 12 mega-biodiversity countries of the world. The
country has about 17,000 species of flowering plants spread over in about
2,260 genera and over 304 families, comprising 6% of the known flowering
plant species of the world (Subramanyam & Nayar, 1974b). Among the 34
Biodiversity hotspots (CIF, 2004) identified, two are in India. These two hottest
hotspots having both species and ecosystem diversity in India are the
southern Western Ghats and eastern Himalayas harboring around 1500 and
1808 endemic flowering plant species respectively. In the Western Ghats,
southern Western Ghats consisting southern Karnataka, Kerala and part of
Tamil Nadu is considered as the most species-rich region with respect to
endemism. Even though Kerala represents a very small percentage of total
area of southern Western Ghats, the State is very rich in biodiversity and
possesses high rate of endemism. Nayar (1997) has reported that about 3800
species of flowering plants are occurring in Kerala of which 1272 are southern
Western Ghat endemics. The recent compilation of flowering plants of Kerala
(Sasidharan, 2004) revealed that there are 4679 species of flowering plants in
Kerala and represents 1637 endemic species of which 263 are reported to
occur only in Kerala.
Nayar (1997) recognized three hotspots of endemic centres in Kerala, viz.
Agasthyamala, Anamalai High Ranges and Silent Valley–Wayanad. Among
these hotspots of endemic centres, Wayanad comes under the “Silent Valley –
Wayanad” centre of endemism. The study reports a total of 596 endemic taxa
45
in 97 families forming nearly 29% of the total species (Figure 5). Among these
Indian endemics, 491 are endemic to Western Ghats. Three hundred and
thirty eight taxa of flowering plants collected from the district are endemic to
southern Western Ghats (18%), of which 59 are restricted to Kerala and 15
species exclusive to the study area (Figure 4). Orchidaceae (74) ranks first in
having maximum number of endemic species followed by Rubiaceae (42),
Poaceae (29), Acanthaceae (28), Fabaceae (27), Melastomataceae (22),
Lauraceae (20), Euphorbiaceae (20), Balsaminaceae (18) and Lamiaceae (16).
In India Rubiaceae ranks first in terms of number of endemic species, while in
Kerala and in Wayanad it is Orchidaceae. Out of the total endemic species
collected from the district 51% of the species are members of these ten families
(Figure 6) Orchidaceae hold the highest percentage of endemic species, (13%)
followed by Rubiaceae with 7% and Poaceae with 5%.
Figure 4. Number of Endemic taxa in Wayanad district
Among the 60 endemic genera reported from Western Ghats, 16 were
collected from Wayanad during the present study. It includes 3 endemic tree
genera, viz. Meteoromyrtus, Otonephalium and Poeciloneuron, of the 6 endemic
tree genera of Western Ghats. Some other important endemic genera
distributed in the study area are Ochreinauclea, Jerdonia, Diplocentrum,
46
Glyphochloa, Indobanalia and Anaphyllum. Jerdonia and Meteromyrtus are
exclusive endemic genera to the study area. Proteroceras, earlier considered as
a monotypic genus of southern Western Ghats is now treated as congeneric
with Pteroceras. Phlebophyllum, Nilgirianthus, Taeniandra and Xenacanthus
the splinter genera of Strobilanthes are now merged under it following the
wider concept of the genus. The genus Impatiens has maximum number of
endemic species (18), followed by Strobilanthes (14). Genera such as Syzygium,
Oberonia, Habenaria and Bulbophyllum are represented with 10 or more
endemic species (Table 11). Among these, Bulbophyllum is the genus in which
all the species are endemic, i.e. the genus showed 100 % of endemism. Out of
the 59 Kerala endemic species collected, 18 species are exclusively endemic to
Wayanad region of Western Ghats. Hedyotis wynaadensis, Oberonia wynadensis,
Sonerila wynaadensis, Ischaemum wayanadense, Nothopegia beddomie var.
wynaadica, Meteoromyrtus wynaadensis, Isachne henryi, Thottea sivarajanii,
Pogostemon peethapushpum, Jerdonia indica, Ixora sivarajiana, Syzygium
stocksii, Eugenia argentia, Leucas beddomei, Orophaea sivarajanii and the
recently described new species like Miliusa wynaadica. Miliusa gokhalae and
Oberonia swaminathanii are the exclusive endemic species of the study area. Figure 5. Relative abundance of endemic and non-endemic species in Wayanad
district
47
Table 11. Top ten genera in Wayanad with high percentage of endemism
Sl. No. Genus Number of
species No. of endemic
species % of
Endemism 1. Impatiens 20 18 90 %
2. Syzygium 18 11 61 %
3. Oberonia 17 11 65 %
4. Strobilanthes 17 14 83 %
5 Habenaria 13 10 78 %
6. Bulbophyllum 11 11 100 %
7. Dimeria 10 7 70 %
8. Litsea 10 9 90 %
9. Ixora 10 6 60 % 10. Diospyros 10 6 60 %
Figure 6. Relative abundance of endemic species in the top ten families of Wayanad district
Fabaceae5%
Other families49%
Euphorbiaceae3%
Lauraceae3%
Balsaminaceae3%
Lamiaceae3%
Poaceae5%
Rubiaceae7%
Orchidaceae13%
Acanthaceae5%
Melastomatace4%
There are 620 threatened species listed in the Red Data Book of Indian Plants
(Nayar & Sastry, 1987, 1988, 1990) out of which 550 species are endemics.
Major work on endemism and conservation status of the flora of India were
done by Subramanyam and Nayar (1974b), Joseph (1977), Henry et al. (1979),
48
Jain and Sastry (1984), Ahmedullah and Nayar (1986), Nayar and Sastry
(1987), Nayar (1996 & 1997), et al. IUCN (2003) published a detailed list of
plants of the world under various threat categories, including that of Indian
species. Nayar (1997) studied the endemism and threatened status of Kerala
plants and categorized them into different threatened groups such as Extinct,
Possibly Extinct, Rare & Threatened, Endangered, Vulnerable, Conservation
Dependent, and Indeterminate. Nayar has placed 483 species out of the 1272
endemic species reported from Kerala, under different threat categories.
In the present study, when the species were subjected to analysis of their
rarity and threats based on the available data (Nayar, 1997; IUCN, 2003), out
of the total 2034 taxa collected from the district, 138 are coming under
different threat categories (Figure 7). Among these species, 41% represented
the Rare (R) category, 18% Vulnerable (VU), 19% Endangered (EN), 8% Lower
Risk Near Threatened (LRNT), 7% Critically Endangered (CR), 3% Possibly
Extinct (PE), and 4% represented the Other Threatened (OT) category, which
are locally threatened (Annexure 1).
Figure 7. Rare and threatened species in Wayanad district and categories as per IUCN
Rare41%Lower Risk
Near Threatened
8%
Other Threatened
4%
Possibly Extinct
3%
Endangered19%
Vulnerable18%
Critically Endangered
7%
49
Of the total 137 threatened species of the study area, 125 are Western
Ghats endemics, which mean that 91% of the total threatened species in the
district are endemics. Again, 24.5 % of the total endemic species in the district
are threatened. Saraca asoca, Glycosmis macrocarpa, Impatiens acaulis, etc.
are some of the threatened species, which are not endemic to Western Ghats.
The evergreen forests and grasslands of Chembra-Vellarimala hill ranges,
Vythiri-Sughandhagiri forests, Kurichiarmala and Chanthanathodu harbor
more than 80% species of rare and threatened categories. Diversity of Rare,
Endemic, Endangered and Threatened plants is comparatively low in Wayanad
Wildlife Sanctuary forests. Possibly Extinct category species like Hedyotis
wynaadensis could seen only in Chembra peak-Vellarimala shola forests.
Narrow endemic and critically endangered species like Eugenia argentia, and
Meteoromyrtus wynaadensis were seen in three to four localities of
Kurichiarmala-Kunchome-Chanthanathodu evergreen forest patches of
Kalpetta and Periya forest ranges. Other critically endangered species like
Hopea erosa, Aglaia malabarica and Syzygium travancoricum were collected
only from evergreen forests of Vythiri. Endangered trees like Cynometra
beddomei, Cynometra travancorica and Kingiodendron pinnatum were also
collected from this area. Endangered and grassland species like Ipsea
malabarica, Garnotia puchiparensis and Habenaria barnesii were located only
in the grasslands of Chembra peak.
Plant taxa with “wynaadensis”/“wynaadica” etc. as specific epithet
It was noticed that Wayanad has a peculiarity in having twelve species, and
one variety named after the district’s name as ‘wynadensis’/’wynaadica’ etc.
The interesting fact is that the species like Hedyotis wynaadensis, Oberonia
wynadensis, Sonerila wynaadensis, Ischaemum wayanadense, Nothopegia
beddomie var. wynaadica, Meteoromyrtus wynaadensis, and finally the
recently described new taxa Miliusa wayanadica are reported to be occurring
only in Wayanad. The other species like Goniothalamus wynaadensis,
Symplocos wynadense, Osbeckia wynaadensis, Justicia wynaadensis,
Casearia wynadensis, and Tephrosia wynaadensis are having very limited
distribution outside Wayanad.
50
Rediscoveries and new distributional records
During the study, few species could be recollected after the type collections.
Eugenia argentea was thought to be extinct and was assigned the status,
“Possibly Extinct” (Nayar, 1997). It is a narrow endemic species of Wayanad
and not seen after the type collection made by Beddome in 1870s. During the
present study it could be recollected from its type locality after a lapse of 130
years and described. The grassland species Hedyotis wynaadensis, a high
altitude endemic shrub of Wayanad (Possibly Extinct- Nayar, 1997), could be
collected from the Chembra peak shola forests of the study area, which
confirmed its existence in the type locality after a lapse of more than 100
years. The Endangered shrub, Euonymus serratifolius was earlier known only
from its type locality, Idukki district, and the present study reported its
presence in Wayanad also. Ipsea malabarica, the endangered orchid that was
reportedly restricted to its type locality, Silent Valley, could be collected from
Chembra peak of Wayanad District. Eria tiagii, Memycylon sisparense,
Aponogeton appendiculatus, Bulbophyllum silentvalliensis, Orophea malabarica
are some other species, which were also known only from their type localities,
that could be collected from the study area. Species such as Zenkeria jainii,
Dimeria copiana, Dimeria idukkiensis, Pavetta travancorica, and Biophytum
congestiflorum were considered to be restricted to the Agasthyamala and
Anamala high ranges. Collection of these species from Wayanad district during
the present study shows their extended range of distribution.
New taxa described from Wayanad
Pristine forests in Wayanad are the treasure house of unique flora.
Exploration in this enigmatic biodiversity region resulted in the discovery of
three new taxa viz. Miliusa wayanadica. Miliusa gokhalae and Oberonia
swaminathanii. The genus Miliusa Lesch. ex A. DC. is currently recognized
with 40 species mostly of Austral-Asiatic with distribution ranging from India,
Sri Lanka and Bhutan to Australia through the Malayan islands (Mols &
Kessler, 2003). Ten species are reported from the Austro-Malesian area (Mols
& Kessler, 2003) and three species from Sri Lanka (Huber, 1985). In India the
51
genus is represented by 15 species distributed mainly in western and north-
eastern regions and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Mitra, 1993). Six species of
Miliusa are reported from Kerala (Sasidharan, 2007). Among the 15 species in
India, four species are endemic to Western Ghats (Mitra, 1993; Murugan et al.,
2004). By following Finet & Gagnepain (1906) Miliusa wayanadica belonging to
the section Miliusa due to one or two ovuled carpels and allied to Miliusa indica.
Small populations of this tree species were observed in Kurichiarmala of
Kalpetta Forest Range and Kalladi forest areas in Meppadi Forest Range. Miliusa
gokhalae allied to Miliusa eriocarpa and distributed towards the windward side
of Vythiri Ghats of Kalpetta Forest Range. The genus Oberonia comprises
about 300 species of epiphytic orchids all over the world. Major work on the
genus Oberonia was done by Gunnar Seidenfaden as he revised all the 85
species known in Mainland Asia in 1968. Oberonia swaminathanii is allied to
Oberonia balakrishnanii and Oberonia seidenfadeniana. Small populations of
this species were observed in Kurichiarmala of Kalpetta Forest Range.
Wild relatives of crop plants
Wayanad is well known in the world history as a main centre of spices and
their trade. With its unique location, climatic features and diverse habitats,
Wayanad harbours a very rich diversity of wild genetic resources of crop
plants. These species are categorized into cereals, pulses, fruit crops, vegetable
oilseeds, fiber crops, spices and condiments. Many species belonging to
Cucurbitaceae, Amaranthaceae, Solanaceae and Dioscoreaceae are wild
relatives of existing cultivars. Momordica dioica and Momordica subangulata
are close relatives of bittergourd. Trichosanthes cucumerina and Trichosanthes
nervifolia are closely related to the cultivated snakegourd. Luffa cylindrica is
the wild relative of smoothgourd. Some other plants related to cultivated fruits
and vegetables are Abelmoschus moschatus, Amaranthus viridis, Amaranthus
spinosus, Cajanus lineatus, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius var. paeoniifolius,
Colocasia esculenta, Dioscorea bulbifera, Artocarpus hirsutus, Artocarpus
gomezianus, Carissa inermis, Cucumis prophetarum, Solanum spp., Hibiscus
hispidissimus, Flacourtia montana, Garcinia cowa, Garcinia gummi-gutta, Vigna
vexillata, and Vigna radiata. Wild relatives of spices collected from the study
52
area are species of Piper, Amomum, Alpinia, Cinnamomum, Curcuma,
Heracleum, Myristica, and Zingiber. Seven species of Piper could be collected
during the present study. Piper trichostachyon and P. hymenophyllum with
longer spikes and bigger fruits are promising species for pepper breeding
experiments. All the species of the family Zingiberaceae are either medicinal or
relatives of cultivated plants. Myristica malabarica, a close relative of nutmeg
(Myristica fragrans) is a common endemic tree in the study area with large
fruits and brightly coloured aril. Eleusine indica, Oryza meyeriana and Oryza
rufipogon are some of the wild relatives of cereals collected from the district.
Species of orchid genera such as Vanda, Aerides, Rhynchostylis, Calanthe,
Cymbidium and Dendrobium are with great horticultural value because of their
showy flowers. Fibre yielding plants and their relatives of the families
Sterculiaceae, Tiliaceae, Malvaceae, and Fabaceae also occur in the district.
Fibre from Sterculia spp., and Helicteres isora are traditionally used by the
tribal people.
Non-endemics and exotics
The flora of India as a whole has been enriched by the intrusive elements
from other parts of Asia, Europe, Tropical Africa, Tropical America and
Australia (Mani, 1974). The indigenous non-endemic plants in the study area
constitute about 65% of the total species. A total of 91 taxa are introduced or
exotics. Majority of these species have very low density as they are planted in
office premises, along roadsides or in homestead gardens. The tropical Asiatic
elements of our flora have largely Indo-Chinese and Malayan affinities. Some
of the common examples are species of Goniothalamus, Gymnopetalum,
Haldinia, Knoxia, Lasianthus, Myristica, Hedyotis, Saraca and Uvaria. Some of
the Tropical African and Madagascarean elements found in this area are
Geissaspis cristata, Albizia lebbeck, A. amara, Canavalia mollis, Combretum
ovalifolium, Kalanchoe pinnata, Pseudarthria viscida and Ricinus communis.
American elements seen in the study area are Anacardium occidentale,
cultivated species of Annona, Capsicum, Hevea, Manihot, Ageratum conyzoides,
Alternanthera pungens, Crassocephalum crepidioides, Synedrella nodiflora,
Cassia occidentalis, Mimosa pudica, Passiflora foetida, Tridax procumbens,
53
Datura metal, Lantana camara, Hyptis suaveolens, Gomphrena decumbens,
and Peperomia pellucida. Most of these species are in fact, fast spreading
weeds. Australian elements found in the study area are species of Lindernia
and Scleria, Apluda mutica, etc. South American elements are Ipomoea
hederifolia, Ipomoea nil, Nicandra physalodes, Physalis peruviana, Mecardonia
procumbens, Scoparia dulcis, etc.
The flora of this region shows marked affinity with the flora of the Sri Lanka
in having a number of species common to both. Some of these are Myristica
dactyloides, Neurocalyx calycinus, Cayratia pedata, Filicium decipiens,
Gordonia obtusa, Gouania microcarpa, Harpullia arborea, Kydia calycina,
Meliosma simplicifolia, Pterocarpus marsupium, Sarcandra chloranthoides,
Tarenna asiatica, Thottea siliquosa and Vanda thwaitesii.
Some of the fast spreading aggressive weeds observed in the study area,
especially in the wildlife Sanctuary area are Parthenium hysterophorus,
Lantana camara, Ageratina adenophora, Mikania cordata, Mimosa diplotricha,
Chromolaena odorata and Bidens biternata.
54
ETHNOBOTANY
The pre-eminent position of plants among natural resources that satisfy the
primary needs of human beings cannot be over-emphasized. Despite the giant
strides in the field of science and technology, this dependence on plants even
as a direct source of food, medicine and a host of survival exigencies of humans has
only marginally reduced (FAO, 1989; Falconer, 1990). The trajectory of human
progress through the ages has witnessed, on the one hand the over-exploitation of
some plant species, and on the other the aided preservation, proliferation and
improvement of certain others (Swaminathan et al., 1992). The human effort
in the preservation of plant life and the drawing, in turn, of sustenance from
them gives rise to an intimate plant-human relationship. Knowledge of this
intimate relationship is the subject matter of ethnobotanic enquiry. It is a fact
that urbanization has resulted in the estrangement of a sizeable section of the
human population from their plant benefactors (McNeely et al., 1990).
However, rural agrarian communities and the tribal populations continue to lead
a life of relatively greater interdependence with their natural environment and
depend directly on plants and other natural resources for their various needs.
There are 434 flowering plants used by the tribal people of Wayanad of which
184 are of food use, 244 are of medicinal use (Mini & Sivadasan, 2007; Nisha
& Sivadasan, 2007), 7 species are used for extracting fibres and 68 plants are
recorded for other uses like fish poisoning, magico-religious (Pramod & Sivadasan,
2003), canes, resins and other Minor Forest Produces. Relative percentage of
various uses of plants by the tribal people of the study area is shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8. Relative percentage of usage of plants by the tribal and rural people of Wayanad district
Medicine48%
Other uses14%
Fibre1%
Food37%
55
Wild edible plants usage by indigenous communities of Wayanad
For many years, the importance of wild food plants in subsistence
agriculture in the developing world as a food supplement and as a means of
survival during times of drought and famine has been overlooked. Generally,
the consumption of such ‘wild food’ has been and still is being underestimated
and research, particularly concerning the socio-economic, cultural, traditional,
and nutritional aspects of wild-food plants still lacks adequate attention.
Further, there is little information on the distribution and the consumption
pattern of the wild foods of diverse communities in different landscapes. There
is a need to document, describe and publish information on wild foods to
enable specialized research on the nutritional values of these plants. This
potential resource can be discovered and improved so that one or the other
wild-food plant may become a future indigenous staple food crop that may
ease food insecurity. At the same time, an emphasis on the development of
wild food plants will help enhance and maintain biodiversity.
Accessing and consumption of wild edible plants by different communities
of Wayanad vary remarkably. The social values held by the community have a
significant bearing on the manner in which wild edible plants are conserved by
the community for food needs. The study looked at the knowledge of wild edible
plant species across the communities in selected areas. Usage and knowledge
of different parts of plants amongst the groups was studied. The Paniya
community possesses knowledge regarding 152 species/varieties of wild edible
plants, with Kattunaikkas coming next with knowledge of 105 species/varieties.
Amongst the tribal communities, the Kurumas are at the bottom of the
knowledge-ladder with an awareness of 48 kinds of wild edible plants, which is
still way above the knowledge amongst other socio-cultural groups (Table 12).
Table 12. Usage of plants and number of wild edible plant species/varieties used by different socio-cultural groups
No. of species/varieties used Wild edibles
Paniya Kuruma Kattunaikka Others Leafy greens 83 21 43 14
Tuber 19 12 25 7
Fruits and seeds 50 15 37 8
Total 152 48 105 29
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Usage pattern of leafy greens
Among the four socio-cultural groups studied, wild and weedy greens form
the most regularly used food supplement in the three tribal groups and are of
great dietary importance among the Paniya families. The study identified 102
wild edible greens, but only a few species are widely used (Annexure 2). The
household survey revealed that the Paniya families consume about 83 species
followed by the Kattunaikka who consume 43 species, the Kuruma consume
about 21 types of wild edible leaves and the settlers restrict themselves to 14
species of leafy greens. Most of these species are herbs (90%), and very few are
trees. An analysis of dependency on various landscapes for collecting these
plants shows that wayside and open areas provide the maximum species (28)
followed by thickets and forests (20 species), paddy fields and associated
ecosystems.
Among the frequently eaten greens are species like Ponnamkkanni
(Alternanthera sessilis), Mullencheera (Amaranthus spinosus), Kuppacheera
(Amaranthus viridis) and Mudungachappu (Solanum nigrum). Expectedly, these
species are available conveniently throughout the season near their
habitations and are readily accessible to women and children. One wild
species regularly eaten, which is strictly restricted to forest or evergreen
bushes is Maracheera (Embelia tsjeriam–cottam) but it is consumed only by the
Kattunaikka community.
Greens that fall in the category of less frequently eaten are used 2-3 times a
month based on their abundance, availability and accessible supply.
Aliyanchappu (Zehneria mysorensis), Kattuthakkali (Passiflora calcarata),
Kallurukki (Scoparia dulcis), Maracheera (Waltheria indica), Muthil (Centella
asiatica), Aalanchappu (Bidens biternata) and Kozhuppacheera (Trianthema
portulacastrum) fall under this category. Many of these species, except Bidens
biternata, Scoparia dulcis and Centella asiatica do not grow in abundance near
the habitations and are mostly found on the hills, often as weeds in the coffee
plantations. All the three tribal communities gather these and consume them
in combination with other wild food species. For example, Paniya women
prefer to cook Muthil (Centella asiatica) mixed with Kozhuppacheera
57
(Trianthema portulacastrum) and Kattuthakkali (Passiflora calcarata) with
crabs or fish. The greens, according to them, tastes better this way than when
cooked separately.
Species like Adenia hondala (Koombichappu), Ophioglossum reticulatum
(Nakkuneety), Momordica dioica and Momordica subangulata (Kattukaipa), and
Alternanthera bidentata (Kozhivalan) are greatly preferred, but their
consumption does not match the revealed preference. These species are seen
to be neither always readily available, nor easily accessible and are seasonal.
Species like Lycianthes laevis (Kattumudunga), Alternanthera bidentata
(Kozhivalan), Adenia hondala (Koombichappu) and Cryptocoryne retrospiralis
(Panchithalu) are rare in distribution and found only on hills and streamside.
Though the dishes made of these are well relished by all the members of
Paniya families, their collection is now restricted to the rare forays they make
to the interior forests in search of firewood or honey.
But several of the edible leafy species, in fact, a large majority of those
identified, are seldom consumed, despite their abundance, availability and
accessibility. Some of these are Cyathula prostrata (Cherukadaladi), Mukia
maderaspatana (Mukkapeera), Polygonum glabrum (Chorakam), Cleome viscosa
(Naikkaduku) and Bacopa monnieri (Brahmichappu). All these are species that
are available nearby, but are used only when the more preferred varieties
become scarce or inaccessible. The Paniya families, for instance, know over 60
such species but use them only during times like severe monsoon when there
is acute food scarcity. Some species are gathered specifically for pregnant or
lactating mothers for their medicinal properties. All the communities do know
their characteristics, palatability and nutritional benefits. But the values of
mainstream society have seeped in enough into the tribal community and even
the famed wild leaf eaters like the Paniyas today consider it below their dignity
to be seen gathering these species from the open areas.
The women of Paniya community have learnt to use even some of the
invasive species like Bidens biternata as greens. This plant is referred to by the
non-tribals as ‘Kandonekkuthy’, for its numerous persistent calyxes that latch
on to the passers-by when brushed against. However, the Paniya women have
58
named it ‘Aalanchappu’ in deference to its rejuvenating properties.
‘Aalanchappu’ literally means leaves that rejuvenate. It is remarkable that the
Paniya women have identified the rejuvenating properties of an invasive plant
that the common populace considers but a troublesome weed and are using it
as a delicious food supplement.
Compared to the Paniya, the Kattunaikka community uses less leafy greens
(43 species) and this can partly be attributed to their lower dependency on
agricultural and associated landscapes. However, they regularly include
several greens in their diet. Embelia tsjeriam-cottam (Marakkeera), Commelina
bengalensis (Kannisoppu) and Justicia nilgherrensis (Hattakheerai) are among
the greens regularly consumed by the community. Among the 102 wild greens
identified, 12 species are exclusively consumed by the Kattunaikka
community (Table 13). Most of these are pure forest species, which are not
generally accessed by the Paniya or Kuruma women. Many of these species are
highly seasonal and depend heavily on soil moisture for their growth.
Table 13. Plants used as vegetables exclusively by Kattunaikka
Local name Scientific name
Hallukkerai Allmania nodiflora
Kannisoppu Commelina bengalensis
Marakkeerai Embelia tsjeriam-cottam
Parippukkerai Chenopodium album
Thaivasoppu Pteridium aquilinum
Parippukkerai Phyllanthus urinaria
Palankeerai Ceropegia metziana
Kadukucheera Blumea barbata
Koovilisoppu Crotalaria laevigata
Hinnisan kaya Cattunaregam uliginosa
Hattakkeerai Justicia nilgherrensis
Among the three tribal communities, the Kuruma are the least
dependent on wild leafy greens for their food requirements. The reasons cited
for this reduced dependency range from low preference of the men and
59
children in the family to wild leafy greens in the diet, non-availability/ non-
accessibility, time constraints for collection and perceptions that accessing
wild greens for food reduces social prestige. Invariably, in all the Kuruma
households, there are home gardens, which are maintained well by women
and this may be another reason for their lower dependency on wild greens.
The usage pattern among the resource-poor settled communities like
Wayanadan Chetty, mixed communities from the Hindu, Christian and
Muslim shows that the frequency of use of wild greens is very little compared
to the tribal communities. The knowledge about edible wild greens among the
settler communities is also much less. The study revealed that while the
Wayanadan Chetty, predominantly an agricultural community knows 14 such
greens, the Muslim and Christian communities knew about 12 wild edible
greens and the other Hindu communities knew about 8 of them. Their
minimal dependency on wild greens has to do with the fact that they possess
fairly well maintained home gardens, and their relatively better economic
status provides them better market access. A concomitant reason, of course is
that it is considered below their social standing to eat wild greens, a habit only
associated with the tribal communities. The species diversity in the home
gardens maintained by the settler communities, it must be noted, does have a
direct bearing on their wild plant dependency. Interestingly, it is found that
once in an year, in the heavy monsoon month of July- August (Karkkidagam)
some women of the settler communities collect some wild greens like Solanum
nigrum (Mudungachappu), Achyranthes aspera (Vankadalady), Cassia tora
(Thakara), Colocasia esculenta (Thalu), etc. for preparing the medicinal gruel
‘Karkkidagakanchi’ and ‘Noyambukanchi’. This partly ritualistic and partly
rejuvenating regimen is now fast dying out, but for some efforts in recent years
by the advocates of traditional medicine to revive it. These wild greens are
cooked in combination with the home garden species during this month.
Tribal communities use resources in a variety of beneficial ways, not
restricting themselves to just the commonly used leaves. They adopt various
processing methods to make the edibles palatable. Tender petioles of Colocasia
esculenta (Vayalthalu) are harvested before the leaves unfold, it is then peeled,
boiled in tamarind water and kept smeared with turmeric powder/paste for a
60
while to remove its irritable raphides. Women patiently do such time-
consuming chores to make the wild food edible and tasty. Three types of
Colocasia from three different habitats are collected and their names are
associated with the habitat from where they are collected such as:
a. Vayalthalu/Kollithalu: Seen along the paddy fields (Vayal) and associated
with marshy areas; it has a light green coloured petiole. All parts of this
plant like rhizome, petiole, seeds and tender leaves are used.
b. Karathalu: Seen on waysides of wet areas with large-sized leaves. Its
itching property is more compared to other varieties and is treated with a
liberal dose of tamarind to make it edible. Its rhizome is not commonly
consumed.
c. Karinthalu: The petiole of this plant is red in colour and the plant is
mainly seen in the open area. This plant is regularly used because it has
more medicinal properties than other varieties. Rhizome of this plant is
not used because of its itching sting.
Thalu is believed to strengthen the bones and improve the immunity of
body. Young girls are fed on a diet of thalu during their menstrual periods to
improve their immunity.
Consumption of Fruits and Seeds
Fruits and seeds are an important group of edibles, which contribute to the
tribal communities’ nutritional requirements. Much of their vitamin and
mineral needs are met by this category of food. Information on 62 such fruits
and seeds (fruits 55, seeds 7) was collected during the study (Annexure 3).
Among the fruit yielding plants, 33 are trees, usually found in the forests and
hills. Fruit trees like Artocarpus heterophyllus (Plavu), Mangifera indica (Mavu),
Ficus racemosa (Athi) and Syzygium cumini (Njaval) are protected on waysides
and in the agricultural landscapes. The fruits of these trees (except Ficus) are
widely used by people across communities on a regular basis. Among the
tribal communities, the Paniyas are the largest consumers of various wild
fruits. There are about 50 species that are consumed by this community
alone, largely collected from forests, wooded hills or such unmanaged areas.
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The non-tribal communities restrict themselves to the fruits of jack, mango,
gooseberry and njaval trees, and generally avoid the lesser-known fruits from
the forests.
One of the important fruit-yielding plants managed mainly by the non-tribal
women is Cycas circinalis (Eenthu). This is a rare plant observed in the study
area, which is mainly conserved for edible seeds and ornamental leaves. A
number of dishes are prepared out of this fruit after thorough processing.
During the fruiting season women take special interest in collecting the seeds,
dry and store for future use. Emblica officinalis (Nellikka) is one of the most
widely collected wild fruits and it is an important source of income for
Kattunaikka families.
Kuruma women are rather selective in their choice of fruits. They accord
greater preference to mango and jack. Raw mangoes are widely collected to
prepare dishes like ‘Mangapuli’, which is used as souring agent for their
dishes. This can be stored for years-together with no deterioration in quality
without any preservatives. Women have specific knowledge about such
preparations and storage techniques.
Another important wild fruit collected for the market is Garcinia gummi-
gutta (Kudampuli). Women, children and youth can be seen engaged in door-
to-door marketing of this fruit, in towns and dwellings of plantation labour.
During the ripening time, men and women stay in the interior forest itself, for
the collection, processing and drying of Kudampuli, which is in great demand.
An important seed, which largely the Paniya and occasionally the
Kattunaikka use, is that of bamboo (Mulayari). During the flowering season of
bamboo, this is an important ingredient in their diet. Bamboo flowers very
rarely and at the onset of the flowering season the Paniya women start
preparations for the collection of seeds. Forest bamboo thrives in large
populations covering wide forest expanses. Women go to the bamboo brakes
before fruit-setting and clear the undergrowth and prepare a clean bed for the
seeds to fall. Sometimes, the people smear cow dung on the ground below
huge canopies signifying the value attached to this rare bonanza from the
forests. The collection may continue for days together and men and children
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join in gathering the seeds. Often the entire family stays amidst the bamboo
brakes through the flowering period. The collected grains are carefully stored
for future use, accentuated by the popular belief that a period of famine
follows the flowering of bamboo. Bamboo seeds are put to a variety of uses,
the most common being as gruel or to make the popular steamed pancake
‘puttu’ for the preparation of which the grains have to be coarsely ground.
Considered as highly nutritious and relished by every one in the family,
bamboo seeds are also sought after by the non-tribal communities.
Consumption of Tubers
Edible roots, tubers and rhizomes of more than twenty-five wild plant
species/varieties are eaten by the tribal and non-tribal communities in
Wayanad. Twelve species/varieties of Dioscorea, a major tuber plant known
are used (Annexure 4). These species are still a major source of food for forest-
based communities like Kattunaikka and these serve as a ‘life saving’ plant
group during periods of food scarcity. The communities who are dependent on
wild Dioscorea for their food classify each member of this genus, based on
characteristics like edibility, taste, colour, size, direction of growth, fiber
content, cooking properties and occasionally the proliferation underground.
Kattunaikka call these tubers as ‘Kalasu’ and they are knowledgeable about
12 species. Among the varieties known to them, Dioscorea hamiltonii
(Vennikalasu), D. belophylla (Hehkkukalasu), D. oppositifolia (Kavalakalasu) are
seen in interior evergreen and moist deciduous forests, and D. wightii
(Erakalasu) in rocky grasslands. D. pentaphylla (Noorakalasu, Nallanoora), D.
wallichii (Narakalasu), D. bulbifera (Hendiridaekalasu) are found in wayside-
bushes and D. pubera (Boojikavalakalasu) in marshy areas. The Kattunaikkas
collect Dioscorea from almost all these places, but more frequently from the
forests and other such unmanaged habitats. Among the different species of
Dioscorea, D. pentaphylla (Nallanoora) is the most commonly consumed tuber.
As the name indicates, ‘nalla’ means safe or good to eat. The tuber is single,
less fibrous and is powdery when cooked and tastes good. This variety is
common on the fringes of deciduous forests. D. oppositifolia (Kavala) is another
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very popular tuber among all the tribes of Wayanad. It is excellent in taste and
is commonly found in moist forests on which the Kattunaikka community
depends more. D. tomentosa (Salukalasu) is not consumed regularly due to its
high mucilaginous content, and is eaten only during times of acute famine.
Communities other than Kattunaikka keep away from this tuber as it has
peculiar kind of fibres that leave an itching sensation when consumed,
particularly on children.
The Paniya community, use roots and tubers of 19 plant species as their
food. As in the case of Kattunaikka, Dioscoreas (Kattukachil or Kattukizhangu)
form important source of their food. They consume nine kinds of Dioscorea
tubers, the most preferred being D. oppositifolia (Kavalakizhangu) and D.
pentaphylla (Noorakizhangu). They consider the Noorakizhangu and
Kavalakizhangu to be rich in ‘podi’ (starch) and ‘Kozhuppu’ (pulp) and the
Narakizhangu (D. wallichii) to be rich in ‘naru’ (fibre). Noora and Kavala do not
need any detoxification or pretreatment before cooking.
Kuruma, Wayanadan Chetty and other settler communities know only three
species of Dioscorea. Fifteen to twenty years ago, men of these communities
used to collect Kavala and Noora, but today wild tubers do not flavour their
diets. They consider it too tedious a job to search and dig out the tuber, being
otherwise engaged. They grow several tubers in their home gardens and these
are not too costly in the markets either. All the different
socio-cultural groups cultivate Dioscorea alata in their home garden. An
interesting fact is that in some parts of the district, Muslim, Hindu and
Christian women buy Kavala and Noorakizhangu from the Paniyas in
exchange for money or rice. Many of the youngsters of these communities are
totally ignorant about these tubers or their importance mainly because wild
Dioscorea are no more a part of their diet.
Among the various tubers, D. hamiltonii, D. oppositifolia and D. pentaphylla
are the most frequently consumed ones. The collected tubers are stored inside
the huts in the open. A wide range of methods is adopted for processing the
tubers. The tuber of D. hispida (Kottunoora) requires thorough processing
before consumption. The chopped tubers are wrapped in a white cloth and
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kept in running water in the streams for over 24 hours before being cooked.
This species is considered toxic and none of the other communities consume it.
After the tuber is dug out, the apical portion of it, along with the stem (vine)
is put back in the pit and filled with soil up to three-fourth levels for
regeneration. Another piece is placed in a small pit close by to confuse the wild
boars, which are in constant competition with the tribals for wild tubers.
Almost all the roots and tubers require processing to make it palatable.
Landscape dependency across different communities
An examination of the pattern of accessing wild food from various
landscapes by the different communities bears out the fact that the Paniya
community successfully explore all the landscapes ranging from forests to
grazing lands; but more from the habitats outside forest-thickets, plantations,
paddy fields, swamps, waysides and grazing lands/mountains while the
Kattunaikkas, on the other hand, forage mostly the forests, and the Kurumas
access the plantations and paddy fields. It is clear that the Paniyas access
almost all the landscapes for wild food and Kattunaikka have more access to
forests and rivers for wild food collection.
Implications of development and the changing scenario
In the last couple of decades rapid changes have had far reaching
implications on the food security of tribal communities. Some of the changes
have been brought due to changes in landscape but still others are due to
attitudinal and perception changes. Paddy fields of Wayanad have been a
veritable treasure-trove of a variety of leafy greens and a host of other wild
food, regularly accessed by the tribal communities, especially the Paniyas and
the Kurumas. Even today, the Paniya women know and use 19 plant species
from the paddy fields and its mud bunds. Conversion of this land for
cultivation of perennial crops or, as is the recent common practice, for banana
cultivation, limits the availability of these species. Studies, have shown that
the unscientific application of chemical pesticides, weedicides, fertilizers etc.
in the coffee, tea, cardamom and banana plantations, have considerably
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reduced the population of common edible greens. All open clearings like
waysides, grazing lands, new plantations and the fallow paddy fields are the
usual sites for green leaves collection. A variety of alien species are getting
naturalized rapidly now throng these locations and replaced the edible greens;
for example species such as Cassia tora, Alternanthera sessilis, Amaranthus
viridis, Amaranthus spinosus, Colocasia esculenta (Karathalu) etc. are edged
out by exotics like Lantana camara, Parthenium hysterophorus, Drymaria
cordata, etc.
Interestingly, some of these alien species, as mentioned earlier, are now
included in their collection of greens by the Paniya women. Bidens biternata
(Aalanchappu as the Paniyas have named it) has turned out to be a delicious
supplement in their food. This species, found as a weed in plantations, is now
sought to be controlled by the planters using strong weedicides! Bidens biternata
now flourishes in all the open landscapes, particularly in the human managed
ones like the coffee plantations. Among the communities studied, only the Paniya
women go for this species, but it underscores the fact that the ingenuity of the
tribal women is capable of discovering new edible plants to replenish their food
basket. It is also an assertion that “traditional knowledge” is dynamic, evolving
and ever changing, with both additions and deletions over time.
The larger society is by and large ignorant about the importance of wild food
as a cheap and nutritionally rich source of dietary material. The information
about the vast variety of wild food is not easily available to the larger society
and even the small groups of people from the mainstream society who forage
the wild for food out of economic deprivation are unaware of much of its
nutritional and health significance. The attitudes of communities which
traditionally utilised wild plant species as food is rapidly changing even
economically deprived communities like the Paniya seem to be losing interest
in going to the wild to collect plants for food. This is despite several incidents
of starvation deaths among the Paniya that are being reported. Many reasons
like lack of interest amongst the younger generation, unavailability of wild food
at convenient sites due to drastic change in landscape, restriction on
accessing, risk of consuming chemically polluted wild food, perception of
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feeling of lowering of prestige by depending on wild food rather than
purchased food, and displacement from original habitats leading to alienation
and changes in lifestyle are attributed to the decrease in using wild food.
Medicinal uses
In the past, the tribal people of the district were almost isolated from the
outside world and people were almost fully depending upon local herbal
remedies for their health problems. These people had considerable knowledge
about usage of plants, which they collect from different ecosystems. The tribal
communities have strong faith in folk medicine and are well versed with the
usage of plants through trial and error methods. The study revealed that 244
species of flowering plants in the district are used as medicine by different
socio-cultural groups. It includes many new plants of medicinal importance
and many new uses and modes of use. The medicinal application of these species
ranges from their use in simple ailment like headache to even cases of cancer.
Paniya community uses more than 46 flowering plants seen in and around
paddy fields for various medicinal purposes (Annexure 5). A total of 40 species
of angiosperms are used by Kurichya community for curing various ailments
in domestic animals. Kattunaikka and Paniya communities use 57 of the wild
edible species, especially leafy greens, not just as edibles but also for their
therapeutic properties (Annexure 6). Among these, 37 are herbaceous species.
They use leaves of 27 species, fruits of 18 species, petiole of 5 species and
tubers of 11 species as medicine. The medicinal uses of wild edible species
pertaining to women-related problems like white-discharge, abdominal pain
during menstrual periods, post-delivery related abdominal diseases, skin
diseases of newly born babies, etc. are known only to women. Women possess
knowledge related to reproductive health therapy with the aid of wild food and
such knowledge is transferred only among female members of the family.
Many of the multiple uses known to both men and women are for common
diseases like rheumatism, jaundice, breathing problems, etc. Socio-cultural
groups like Hindu, Muslim, and Kuruma use some plants like Thalu (Colocasia
esculenta), Thakara (Cassia tora) as vegetables only during special
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occasions/periods due to its medicinal property. Ehnobotanical studies among
Kurichya and Kuruma communities of the district revealed that they use
different parts of 58 plant species for curing gynecological problems. Of these
10 species are used only by Kurichya and 14 are used only by Kuruma. They
also use 73 plants for skin care, dental care and as antidote for poisonous
bites. All individual parts of plants such as root, stem, leaf, flower, bulb, rhizome,
etc. and in some cases whole plant is used as medicine. Kurichya, Kuruma
and Paniya communities alone use 106 plants in the paediatric practices.
Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs)
Wayanad has a large populations of plants yielding NWFPs and also of high
species diversity value. This could be partially attributed to the occurrence of
both deciduous and evergreen species in response to the prevailing favorable
microclimatic conditions. Tribal people of the district, especially the
Kattunaikka, Urali Kuruma, Adiya and Paniya living adjacent to forest have
been depending on these forest resources for their survival. They collect a wide
range of products to satisfy their own needs like food, medicine, fibre, manure,
fodder, thatching/roofing materials, cosmetics, etc. They harvest NWFPs
mainly for their own consumption and partly for market. A large number of
species are collected and traded in the market through Scheduled Tribe Co-
operative Marketing Federation and Vanasamrakshana Samithies (Forest
Department). In Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary area, marketing of minor forest
produce is a primary source of income for the Kattunaikka, a primitive hunter-
gatherer group, and Paniya. They collect around 40 NWFPs, mostly in the form
of fruits, seeds, leaves, young shoots, bark, roots and whole plants and rely on
the co-operative societies for marketing. Major NWFPs permitted to be
collected from Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary are Acacia sinuata, Phyllanthus
emblica, Solanum indicum, Piper nigrum, Sida rhombifolia, Entada rheedii,
Raphidophora pertusa, Jatropha curcas, Sterculia villosa, Strobilanthes ciliatus,
Desmodium velutinum, Curcuma zeodaria, Curcuma aromatica, Pseudarthria
viscida, Parmelia dialata (Lichen), and honey.
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Analysis of major 10 NWFPs marketed through the Kalloor Scheduled Tribe
Co-operative Marketing Federation, near Muthanga, over a period of 10 years
shows that Sida rhombifolia (35.3 %), Phyllanthus emblica (24.2 %) and
Solanum indicum (23.9%) together constitute 83.4 % of the traded NWFPs in
terms of quantity. Before the establishment of co-operative societies, the tribal
people collected more items and sold them to the private traders. But the
collection is now restricted to premium items by the societies because the
collection of other items is said to be unprofitable due to high wage cost and
low product demand. A large quantity of NWFPs is still illegally collected by
tribals and non-tribals and sold to the private traders. This often leads to
competition between groups for collecting the products, resulting in over
exploitation of some species.
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THREAT TO THE FLORA
The flowering plant diversity of Wayanad district is under severe threat due
to various man-made reasons like forest fragmentation, grassland conversion,
construction of dams, over grazing, over exploitation of forest resources,
habitation and cultivation inside the Wildlife Sanctuary, forest plantation,
conversion of paddy fields, unscientific application of chemicals, invasion of
alien species and forest encroachments. The western slope evergreen forests
and moist deciduous tracks along the state border on the eastern edge of
Wayanad are highly fragmented due to massive destruction of habitat. Due to
the yield of valuable timber, these forest had been extensively exploited and
consequently greatly disturbed. Most of the areas are now in secondary
succession. Major part of the high altitude grasslands in Kurichiarmala and
Banasuramala were converted in to Eucalyptus and Grewelia plantations by
the forest department. Construction of dams for irrigation and electricity has
also caused considerable damage to the vegetation. There are 2 dams in
Wayanad, viz. Karapuzha and Banasurasagar. Construction of dams,
especially Banasurasagar dam considerably damaged and submerged a vast
stretch of the evergreen forests. It was observed that grazing in the buffer
zones is a serious threat to the vegetation of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
Over-exploitation of forest resources, especially from the Wayanad Wildlife
Sanctuary is also causing severe damage due to the destructive collection
methods. Barks of several taxa of spices and medicinal value are extracted
quite often by cutting the trees. It was observed that collection of gooseberry
and other fruits are made by lopping the branches. Several trees of
Cinnamomum malabatrum, Persea macrantha, Canarium strictum, and
Symplocos microcarpa were found damaged due to the removal of bark.
Unsustainable and illegal collection of valuable medicinal plants like
Coscinium fenestratum, Pterospermum rubiginosum is also causing depletion of
species populations.
The most interesting feature of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is the large
number of settlements where cultivation is practiced. Southern Ranges have
80 settlements and 9 in Tholpetty Range. The main occupation of the people is
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agriculture and they cultivate cash crops such as coffee, pepper and coconut
followed by primary crops, viz. paddy, ginger, tapioca and plantains. These
people living in the vicinity of forests are depending on the forests for meeting
their requirements of firewood, small timber needs for house construction,
agricultural implements, and poles for supporting banana plants. Teak and
Ecucalyptus are most extensively raised as forest plantations in the district.
Saplings of Bambusa bambos are often planted along with teak. Bamboos have
been widely extracted from these forests since very long. Now sporadic
flowering occurs almost every year. The undergrowth of these forest
plantations in moist deciduous forests are predominantly exotic weeds like
Chromolaena odorata, and Lantana camara.
Paddy fields of Wayanad have been a veritable treasure-trove of a variety of
medicinal and wild edible greens, regularly accessed by the tribal
communities. Apart from greens, a number of taxa of high food and health
value such as fish, crustaceans like crab and snails were associated with this
agro-eco system. From an ecological view point, the paddy fields situated in
the low-lying areas of the undulating Wayanad terrain act as a trough
collecting and retaining a large quantity of water that is used by the flora and
fauna. Conversion of this land for cultivation of perennial crops or, as is the
recent common practice, for banana considerably damaged the floristic wealth.
Studies have shown that the unscientific application of chemical pesticides,
weedicides, fertilizers, etc. in the coffee, tea, cardamom and banana
plantations, have considerably reduced the herbaceous flora.
A variety of alien species are getting naturalized rapidly in Wayanad district.
The climate of the district is highly suitable for the fast growth of many of
these exotic species. Some of these have replaced the herbaceous flora,
especially edible greens; for example species such as Cassia tora,
Alternanthera sessilis, Amaranthus viridis, Amaranthus spinosus, Colocasia
esculenta (Karathalu) etc. are edged out by exotics like Lantana camara,
Parthenium hysterophorus or Drymaria cordata etc. Sizeable areas of
Muthanga sanctuary are now infested with Lantana camara and Chromolaena
odorata - two noxious exotics. They now thrive in the area, which has been
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clear-felled of Eucalyptus plantations. Interestingly, the Eucalyptus
plantations itself came in to being after pristine natural forests were cleared to
plant them as part of the social forestry scheme! Mikania cordata is another
troublesome weed now found in almost all the forest fringes in the district.
Mucuna pruriens, Parthenium hysterophorus, Bidens biternata, and several
species of Blumea are some of the quick growing alien species, which have
proliferated in different habitats in the study area.
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The floristic study of Wayanad district envisaged exploration and
documentation of the flowering plant diversity of Wayanad district. The thesis
is organised into introductory part and systematic part. In the introductory
part features of the study area, review of earlier work, methodology, salient
findings, floristic analysis and ethnobotany were given. The systematic part
taxonomically enumerates the taxa encountered from the study area.
Wayanad is a mid-level plateau, lies in the northwest corner of the Nilgiris.
Topographically the district can be divided in two parts, the Southwestern part
and the Northeastern part. From the highest altitude of the Western Ghats on
the southwest and western border of the district, the plateau of Wayanad
gradually slopes down towards northeast and eastward and merging
imperceptibly with the Mysore plateau. The forest area in the district is divided
into Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and Reserve Forests and is endowed with six
vegetation types, which support luxuriant growth of diverse plant groups. The
ethnic diversity of the district is also very impressive as evidenced by five
dominant tribal groups, and these are the communities who still hold
knowledge on biodiversity. The mid-level plateau of the district is the most
densely populated area and it covers a major part of the land. Most of the
natural vegetation of these areas has been replaced by coffee, tea, eucalyptus,
banana and rubber plantations.
The thesis is the result of the intensive exploratory studies carried out
during the period 2000-2005. Altogether, specimens with 4321 field numbers
were collected. The total number of 2034 species belonging to 903 genera and
171 families recorded from an area of 2031 square kilometer form nearly 49%
of the flora of the Kerala state (4679 taxa) and more than 10% of the flora of
India. Of the 2034 taxa, Dicotyledons are represented by 1521 species
belonging to 676 genera under 140 families, and Monocotyledons by 511
species belonging to 225 genera under 29 families. Gymnosperms are
represented by 2 taxa. The plants were classified according to Bentham and
Hooker’s system with necessary alterations. Keys have been provided for
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families, genera, species and intraspecific taxa. Illustrations and photographs
of selected rare and endemic taxa have been provided. The family Fabaceae
with 185 species in 68 genera is the largest family followed by Orchidaceae
with 165 species in 68 genera. Poaceae are the third largest family represented
in the district with 163 species in 65 genera. Among the 169 families, 43
families are represented by single species each. Of the 901 genera, there are
25 genera with 10 or more than 10 species in each.
Pristine forests in Wayanad are the treasure-house of unique flora and the
present floristic exploration in this enigmatic biodiversity region resulted in
the discovery of three new taxa, viz. Miliusa wayanadica, Miliusa gokhalae and
Oberonia swaminathanii. Two rare and endangered species, considered as
‘possibly extinct’, viz. Eugenia argentea and Hedyotis wynaadensis could be
recollected from their type localities after a lapse of 130 years. The study
reports a total of 596 endemic taxa in 97 families forming nearly 29% of the
total species. Among these Indian endemics, 491 are endemic to Western
Ghats. Three hundred and thirty eight taxa of flowering plants collected from
the district are endemic to southern Western Ghats (18 %), of which 59 are
restricted to Kerala and 15 species exclusive to the study area. Among the 60
endemic genera reported from Western Ghats, 16 were collected from
Wayanad during the present study. It includes 3 endemic tree genera, viz.
Meteoromyrtus, Otonephelium and Poeciloneuron, out of 6 endemic tree genera
of Western Ghats. Jerdonia and Meteoromyrtus are exclusive endemic genera
to the study area. It was revealed that 138 taxa are coming under different
threat categories and most of them are narrow endemics. It was observed that
Wayanad has a peculiarity in having eleven species, and one variety named
after the district’s name as wynadensis’/wynaadica’ etc. The interesting fact is
that the species like Hedyotis wynaadensis, Oberonia wynadensis, Sonerila
wynaadensis, Ischaemum wayanadense, Nothopegia beddomie var. wynadica,
Meteoromyrtus wayanaadensis, and finally the recently described new taxon
Miliusa wynaadica are reported to be occurring only in Wayanad.
With its unique location, climatic features and diverse habitats, Wayanad
harbors a very rich diversity of wild genetic resources of crop plants. There are
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434 flowering plants used by the tribal people of Wayanad and the indigenous
non-endemic plants in the study area constitute about 65% of the total
species.
The present study indicated that Wayanad is not only rich in its habitats
and habit-forms but also for the diverse life forms. The life forms include
peculiar plants such as saprophytes, insectivorous, parasites and semi-
parasites. The diverse habitat of the district supports a rich flora and fauna.
The evergreen forests and grasslands of Chembra-Vellarimala hill ranges,
Vythiri-Sughandhagiri forests, Kurichiarmala and Chanthanathodu harbor
more than 80% species of rare and threatened category. Diversity of Rare,
Endemic, Endangered and Threatened plants is comparatively low in Wayanad
wildlife Sanctuary forests. These areas are under severe threat due various
man-made reasons like forest fragmentation, grassland conversion,
construction of dams, over-grazing, over-exploitation of forest resources,
habitation and cultivation inside the wildlife Sanctuary, forest plantations,
conversion of paddy fields, unscientific application of chemicals, invasion of
alien species, and forest encroachment. All these facts indicate the immediate
need of implementing conservation measures to maintain the species diversity
which is our national heritage, and to save the valuable genetic resources for
judicious and sustainable utilization for the future generation.
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