Intensive explorations in Havelock Island (Andaman Islands) identified the presence of 29 true mangrove species which represent 63% of the total true mangrove species in India; 76% of Andaman and Nicobar islands and 83% of Andaman Islands. True mangroves include the significant species like Aegiceras corniculatum, Lumnitze raracemosa, Rhizophora mucronata and Sonneratia ovata. Brief description, phenology, distribution and photographs of selected mangrove species are provided.

A study was conducted to estimate the biomass and soil carbon stock in various sites of Abies pindrow (Silver fir) - Picea smithiana (Spruce) and Betula utilis (Bhojpatra) forests of district Shimla, Himachal Pradesh during the year 2014-2015.  In Fir-Spruce  mixed forests, the amount of carbon stock at Larot site for above ground, below ground, under storey and litter was 287.39 tC/ha, 57.48 tC/ha, 2.22 tC/ha and 0.92 tC/ha respectively. Whereas, values of these components at Khirki site were 267.31 tC/ha, 53.46 tC/ha, 3.65 tC/ha and 0.85 tC/ha respectively. The biomass as well as the carbon stock was higher at Larot site than Khirki site. The soil organic carbon stock (tC/ha) at 10-15 cm, 15-30 cm and 30-45 cm was 27.05, 24.91 and 18.35 respectively at Larot site. Whereas, these values for different depths were 27.36 tC/ha, 22.02 tC/ha and 19.01 tC/ha respectively for Khirki site. The value of total soil carbon stock was little more (70.31 tC/ha) at Larot site than Khirki site (68.39 tC/ha). In case of Bhojpatra forests, the amount of carbon stock at Larot site for above ground, below ground, under storey and litter was 75.32 tC/ha, 18.83 tC/ha, 11.38 tC/ha and 1.57 tC/ha respectively. In Bhojpatra forests, understorey i.e. biomass of shrubs and herbs contribute about 11.63% to the total biomass in the forest. The soil organic carbon stock (tC/ha) at 10-15 cm, 15-30 cm and 30-45 cm was 19.54, 15.43 and 11.88 respectively for this site. The soil organic carbon stock decreased with increasing the soil depth.

Variability studies on Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus Populations  (Banoak) in Himachal Pradesh was carried out during 2014-16 for selection of best phenotypes. In order to select best sites for improved genetic gain and quality production of Quercus leucotrichophora, eight sites and three D.B.H. classes from Himachal Pradesh were evaluated on the basis of morphometric traits. The study revealed significant variation  among different sites for traits viz., tree height, clean bole height, crown width, leaf area, leaf length, leaf width. Whereas, among the different diameter classes all the traits showed significant variation except number of primary branches, leaf area, leaf width. Over all site S₈ (Salooni-Chamba) was found to be superior followed by Site S₆ (Manikaran-Kullu) for all traits. Diameter class D₃ ( > 60 cm) excelled in morphometric traits.  Study concluded that superiority of S₈ (Salooni) and S₆ (Manikaran) populations from large diameter class D₃ ( > 60 cm dbh) for obtaining seed /propagules for further testing and obtaining  best results.

The present investigation was carried out at village Goshal of Lahaul and Spiti cold desert district of Himachal Pradesh during the year 2010 to 2013 to compare soil physical and chemical properties by demarcating the study area into three main ecosystems viz; forest ecosystem, alpine pasture ecosystem and agro ecosystem. The soil physical properties of all the three ecosystems revealed that the soils were found nearly neutral in reaction, having no salt problem and were medium in physical status. Bulk density was more in alpine and forest ecosystem due to grazing and soil was more compact as compared to agro ecosystem. The average soil moisture was maximum in agro ecosystem. Average soil nutrient status for all the three ecosystems depicted that the fields where peas and pulses were planted were found to be possessing higher nitrogen contents than other areas due to the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen.

Asan wetland is a man-made wetland located in Uttarakhand state. In the given study, efforts have been made to study the floristic diversity and species composition of the aquatic macrophyte in Asan wetland and provide a check list. Sixty seven species were recorded under 32 families being maximum in Cyperaceae followed by Poaceae and Asteraceae. Remaining families comprised either one or two species each. Among all the recorded species, monocots (54%) were dominated over dicots (42%) and remaining 4% comprised ferns. Herbaceous macrophytes were found growing abundantly (54%) which are followed in degree of prevalence by the grasses (21%), sedges (18%), shrubs (4%) and climbers (3%). In addition, this study also revealed that pollution resistant species like Bacopa monnieri, Hydrilla verticillata, Vallisneria spiralis and Eichhornia crassipes along with tall grass species which grow in shallow water are spreading considerably that indicates an increasing pollution in the wetland. The present study will provide an important set of informations to support research work like limnological studies, productivity, conservation and management programs of this wetland.

A study has been conducted to find out the effect of different methods of lifting and stumping of Teak seedling on stump quality. Teak seedling were lifted manually done by hand using crow bar (digging / pulling) and by using back hoe loader in 10 month old Teak mother bed (each 10 beds- size 1m length and 5m width) nursery.Variable costs such as machinery and labour were of interest in this study. Other inputs were assumed to be equal across treatments. Hiring charge of back hoe loader, machine hour, labour type, working hour and wage rate were measured. From this experiment it could be concluded that lifting the Teak seedling by back hoe loader resulted in reduce the human drudgery, lifting of more seedling with lesser time and cost without impairing the seedling growth.

The Lemon Pansy Butterfly, Junonia lemonias (Linnaeus) is reported for the first time form Namorah Range, Arunachal Pradesh (India) feeding on flowers of Chromolaena odorata (L.) King and Rob., an invasive plant species  in natural wild conditions.

Forty seed sources of Pongamia pinnata (L.) exhibiting different morphometric characteristics collected from the different districts of Punjab and Haryana were screened for the incidence of leaf blotch miner, Acrocercops transecta Meyrick. The range of mean incidence of A. transecta expressed in terms of mean leaf damage (%) on seed sources collected from Punjab was higher (17.80-100 %) as compared to its incidence (75.47-100 %)  on the seed sources of P. pinnata collected from Haryana. Three seed sources of P. pinnata (PB-2, PB-3 & PB-1) collected from Punjab, with mean incidence of A. transecta (17.80-28.67 %) were categorised as most resistant. However, the three sources of P. pinnata (HR-17, HR-1 & HR-19) collected from Haryana with mean incidence of A. transecta (75.47-78.87 %) were categorised as moderately resistant.

The present paper reports the occurrence of   leaf roller, Sylepta derogata  Fabricius (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae) on back mangrove,  Hibiscus tiliaceus Linn. (family Malvaceae), exists in Bhitarkanika National Park, Rajnagar (Mangrove) Forest Division, Kendrapara, Odisha. Some biological observations and morphometric data on developmental stages of leaf roller has been studied and reported.

Plagiochila kurzii Steph. is known in Indian bryoflora from South Andaman and Katchall Islands in Andaman & Nicobar. The species, last collected from Indian territory towards the close of nineteenth century, is recently rediscovered in the country from South Andaman Island after a gap of over eleven decades.

A new species of Tripogon from Megamalai hills, Southern Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu is described and illustrated here. It is very closely related to Tripogon jacquemontii, but differs by having long Inflorescence with purplish colour, 3 – 9 florets per raceme and two lobed lemma with single awn.

Twenty four species are added to the lichen flora of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. rthonia speciosa (Müll. Arg.) Grube, Arthopyrenia malaccitula (Nyl.) Zahlbr., Bactrospora leptoloma (Müll. Arg.) Egea & Torrente,  Dictyomeridium campylothelioides (Aptroot & Sipman) Aptroot et al. and Stirtonia rhizophorae Kalb & Mongkolsuk are reported as new records for India. The identity of previously reported Chiodecton malmei G. Thor (Jagadeesh Ram 2015b) is corrected. The apothecium of Pyxine keralensis D.D. Awasthi is described for the first time.

Anthelia julacea (L.) Dumort., a less known plant of Indian bryoflora, has been rediscovered from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand after a gap of around eight decades. The study confirms its presence in the country and also makes its first ever report from Uttarakhand.

Radula campanigera Mont., so far known from Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Kusaie, New Zealand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Tahiti, is here described and illustrated from West Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh in Eastern Himalaya. The species was earlier reported in Indian bryoflora from Nicobar Islands, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Sikkim, but all previous records of its occurrence in the country were unfounded. Hence the present report constitutes its first authentic record for India.

Bamboos are among most significant plants worldwide and economically important forest resource in many countries of Asia. In vitro propagation is a potential and well known technique for mass multiplication of bamboo. Efforts were made for multiplication of Dendrocalamus strictus through aseptic nodal explants and its acceleration through heavy metal infusion. A rapid in vitro propagation protocol was established. Maximum germination with 100% survival rate was recorded in MS media supplemented with 1.0 mg/l BAP in combination with TDZ (0.25 mg/l) with a maximum shoot number of 9.36±0.67 and shoot length of 6.85 ± 0.95. The effects of copper and zinc were assessed on morphogenesis.  The specific concentration of copper and zinc in MS medium were doubled (2x), quintuple pentadrupled (5x) and decupled (10x). The results revealed that maximum mean shoot number and mean shoot length was observed in quintuple pentadrupled zinc i.e. 6.80 ± 0.74 and 6.60 ± 0.80 cm respectively, however as concerned to copper, maximum shoot number (5.56 ±0.92) and shoot length (5.87 ± 0.78) were observed at similar concentration. Although copper and zinc are toxic for plants at higher concentration, but a good in vitro propagation response was observed in quintuple pentadrupled concentration.

The paper deals with the new locality record of Pittosporum eriocarpum Royle from Himachal Pradesh along with note on previous erroneous records from the state.

A new species of Syzygium, from the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, is described and illustrated.

In the present study, the population status on Indopiptadenia oudhensis (Brandis) was recored in the Champawat. District to know the present regeneration status. The population survey was carried out and reported here with photograph and taxonomic decription.

Eight species of orchids are reported with their photograps for the first time from Goa.

The paper deals with an account of lichen diversity in Sohelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh. The study revealed occurrence of 39 taxa belonging to 20 genera and 14 families. Physciaceae is the most dominant family and Bacidia is the most dominant genus in the area. In addition, Arthonia dispersula Nyl., Herpothallon sticticum Jagadeesh & G.P. Sinha, Graphis consimilis Vain. and Pyxine consocians Vain. are reported as new records for Uttar Pradesh.

Zeuxine reflexa, a less known terrestrial orchid belonging to the subtribe Goodyerinae, has been collected from Kheel, Papum pare District of Arunachal Pradesh, India and reported here as a new distributional record for the state. The threat status of the species in India is assessed as Critically Endangered [CR B2ab (i, ii, iv)] according to IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (Regional and National Levels). Its detailed description alongwith a photo-plate is provided.