Forests have two primary objectives, viz. biodiversity conservation and maintenance of ecosystem services. The forests of Barak valley have not been mapped till now. The study aims to map and assess the status of the forest using Landsat 8 data and NDVI technique. In this study, the NDVI values varied from -0.13 to 0.49. Five land classes were delineated with an overall accuracy of 90%. These are forests with high vegetation cover, medium vegetation cover, low vegetation cover, others (forest villages, agricultural land, bare land etc.) and water bodies. The area statistics of the different land classes varied significantly. Forests with low vegetation cover (4668.79 ± 2391.6 ha) occupied the maximum area followed by forests with medium vegetation cover (4380.07 ± 1525.6 ha) and forests with high vegetation cover (3794.64 ± 1112.5 ha). Forests in need of immediate attention in this region have been identified. Proper management of these areas needs to be taken up immediately to prevent their further degradation.

The specific epithet brunoniana has been applied since long to two very distinct species of Cyathea (tree-ferns) in India, belonging to different subgenera, or as preferred by some recent authors, microgenera, Alsophila and Sphaeropteris. Serious nomenclatural confusion has been caused by failure to take into account the two different applications of the name and by hasty misapplication, combined with lack of knowledge of the morpho-taxonomy of the two species and of their ecology and local distribution in India. It is shown here that Alsophila brunoniana Wall. and Cyathea brunoniana (C.B.Clarke) C.B.Clarke & Baker are independent names for two quite different species, which in the genus Cyathea should be known as C. sollyana Griff. and C. brunoniana if following the ICN. However due to the confusion concerning the application of the epithet brunoniana and its unavailability for use in the genus Cyathea for the species now more widely so named, it is intended to propose to conserve the name Cyathea brunoniana (Wall.) Fraser-Jenk. against Cyathea brunoniana (C.B.Clarke) C.B. Clarke & Baker. Doing so will allow use of the name Cyathea brunoniana (Wall.) Fraser-Jenk. & Kholia instead of the little known name C. sollyana; and C. chinensis Copel. instead of Clarke & Baker’s C. brunoniana.  This eventual intended nomenclature was used by Holttum (1965), but with different authorities for the former name and without looking into the nomenclatural problems re preoccupation of Cyathea brunoniana in sufficient detail.

The present study elucidates the current status of moss family Hypnaceae in Pachmarhi Sanctuary that is part of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve (PBR). On taxonomic assessment, Hypnaceae emerged as one of the  dominant families of the Sanctuary with seven genera and 12 species being present.  The diversity and species composition of the taxa was assessed on six selected habitats viz., soil, dry rocks, wet rocks, soil covered rocks, stony walls and stem bark (epiphytic). These mosses have been mostly encountered from terrestrial habitats. The species composition across the habitats was much dissimilar indicating towards higher diversity of the family at PBR. Presently, Ectropothecium cyperoides (Hook.) A. Jaeger, Ectropothecium rostellatum (Mitt.) A. Jaeger, Isopterygium assamicum (Mitt.) A. Jaeger, and Hypnum plumaeforme Wils. are new additions to the moss flora of central India.

This communication presents studies of algal diversity sampled from Baraila lake Salim Ali Jubba Sahni Bird Sanctuary, a protected area located in Vaishali district of Bihar. It is the first time that wetlands of Bihar are explored for asscessing of the algal diversity. A total of 36 algal taxa belonging to 27 genera and 9 classes were identified and documented. Out of these, 4 taxa are recorded as new distributional records for India, i.e. Sphaerellocystis ellipsoidea Ettl, Oedogonium pratense Transeau f. minus Mrozi?ska-Webb, Oedogonium undulatum A. Braun ex Hirn var. incisum Hansgirg and Chara muscosa J. Groves & Boll.-Webst.

A nursery experiment was conducted to study the effect of different organic addition in the nursery on growth and stump quality of teak seedling. The nursery soil sample was analyzed before initiate the experiment and after uprooting the seedling from nursery (post harvest soil). The pre conditioned 6 months-old teak drupes (fruit with seed) were placed for germination in the nursery bed.  The experiment consisted of eight treatments which replicated thrice. On 28 and 60 days after sowing, the result revealed that the application of organic amendments did not have any significant  effect on number of seedlings /m² of teak at 28 days after sowing, where as the significant influence were observed at 60 days after sowing. Significant differences were observed in root length (cm), shoot length (cm), stump weight (g), stump girth (mm) and dry matter production (g) of teak stump at 6 months after sowing. From this study it could be concluded that the organic addition of teak nursery with FYM @ 12.5 t ha^-1 + bagasse fly ash @ 20 t ha^-1 enhance the seedling growth and stump quality of 6 months old teak nursery.  

Rhynchosia jacobii Chandrab. & B.V. Shetty is an endemic species of Western Ghats is reported here as a new addition to the Flora of Eastern Ghats, collected from Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh, India. The detailed description and photo plate is  provided for easy identification.

Cleome rutidosperma DC. and Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Viv, collected from Palakonda, Srikakulam district and Bhavani Island, Vijayawada, Krishna district respectively are reported as new distributional records for the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Dichocarpum adiantifolium (Hook.f. & Thomson) Wang & Hsiao var. meghalayense Murugesan, Mao & Chanu (Ranunculaceae), a new variety collected from the Mawsynram forests of East Khasi hills, Meghalaya, India is described and illustrated here.

Monoculture of poplar based on few clones has led to widespread incidence of insects and diseases. Mutation breeding is considered an option for creation of new variability in the vegetatively propagated crops. In the present study, cuttings of clone L-47/88 were subjected to six doses of gamma rays i.e. 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 Gy and were planted in the field following randomized block design with four replications and plot size of 16 cuttings. The effect of gamma rays on sprouting, survival percentage, leaf and growth traits was found to be significant.  The reduction in sprouting over control was maximum at 50 Gy (40.43 %) and the lowest reduction was at 10 Gy and 20 Gy (2.13 %).  All cuttings of dose 40 Gy and 50 Gy were having stunted growth and experienced total mortality within 45 days after sprouting.  The percent reduction in survival over control at 30 Gy was 48.05, which may be considered as LD₅₀. The maximum values for leaf area (176.7 cm²), leaf length (15.99 cm) and leaf width (16.19 cm) were recorded in T1 (control) and relative values for T6 (50 Gy) were 45.4 cm², 10.16 cm and 9.96 cm, respectively. The leaf blade area and plant height decreased significantly with progressive increase in dose level. The chlorophyll index was at par among all levels of gamma rays. Further studies need to be conducted for identification of positive mutants by using 30 Gy dose of gamma radiations.

Three Angiosperm species: Crotalaria grahamiana Wight &Arn. Heliotropium marifolium J. Koenig ex Retz and Solanum incanum L. are being reported as new distributional records to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.Crotalaria grahamiana, so far considered as endemic to Southern Western Ghats, was collected from near coastal areas of North & South Andaman Islands.

A thorough survey of the members of Solanaceae was carried out in Sirumalai Hills and occurrences of six additional species of Solanaceae hitherto not reported from Sirumalai Hills is reported here. Of these, Solanum americanum Mill. var. odishense Kalidass & P. Murugan turned out to be a new report for the state of Tamil Nadu and Solanum pseudocapsicum L. an addition to Solanaceae of Eastern Ghats. A brief description with photographs and other relevant notes is provided for each species for easy identification.

The ability of forests in atmospheric carbon sequestration is increasingly gaining attention. Present study deals with the estimation of biomass and carbon stock of the teak plantation in the terai central forest division  in Kumaun, Uttarakhand State of India. Very few scientific studies were done regarding the teak plantation and the estimation of its biomass in Kumaun. Therefore this study was carried out in this region to assess the role played by teak plantation in climate change. The information regarding the changes in pattern of carbon storage is vital and important because it can be used by government and policymakers to predict the deposit pattern for changing climate. Three sites i.e., Kamola block (Site I), Kamola beat (Site II) and East Gadappu beat (Site III) were selected for the study. Large scale variations in biomass and carbon stock were noted among all three sites. Site III (East Gadappu) showed the maximum biomass and carbon stock (297.03 tha^-1 and 143.18 tha^-1) followed by site I (Kamola block) (241.9 tha ^-1and 117.27 t ha^-1) and site II ( Kamola beat ) (175.76 t ha^-1and 85.79 t ha^-1). Although stand density and total basal area of the forest showed almost similar value on all three sites, still the differences in biomass and carbon stock at all sites indicated the positive contribution of biodiversity as shown in the results and negative implications of human disturbance to the forest.

The occurrence and distribution of the sedge Cyperus javanicus Houtt., in Kanyakumari district along the west coast of Tamil Nadu, is recorded and added to the Flora of Tamil Nadu here with details.

Three Ferns viz.: Asplenium lacinioides Fraser-Jenk., Pangtey & Khullar, Asplenium normale D.Don, and Asplenium shimurae (H.Itô) Nakaike are recorded first time from Mizoram. The same have been documented in present communication.