June 3: The wild plant, Mungari Molaka, has blossomed with 21 flowers this season. The rare occurrence presages a strong monsoon, according to some botanists.
Pune Tata Power's three hydroelectric power stations at Khopoli, Bhira and Bhivpuri supply India's financial capital with 450 MW of life-giving electricity. So much so that the company's methodology of large-scale plantations in the catchments of the Western Ghats - the global hotspot that is host to at least 4,000 species of flowering plants - has now been lauded by Romania.
Investigations were carried out in 26 sacred groves of the district of Bankura of West Bengal during 2006 to 2007. 114 plant species were recorded from those groves including 102 dicots and 12 monocots. The major tribal groups in those areas are Santals and Koramudis; others are Bedias and Mahalis. Main festival of Santals is 'Sarul' under the canopy of Shorea robusta.
Himachal Pradesh, situated in the centre of the Western Himalayas, having diverse agro climatic conditions ranging from semi-tropical to temperate, alpine and culminating to the cold desert region, is bestowed with a veritable emporium of medicinal and aromatic plants.
May 29: The Nannari plant, from which the famous Rayalaseema sharbat is made, has been listed among endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Apart from the Nannari plant, 46 other species from the State have also been put in the red list by the IUCN.
SHILLONG, May 19: Rarest of the rare botanical species in the world is found in Meghalaya. The stunning flower of considerable size known as Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, first discovered by an Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in 1878 on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, was discovered at Ri-Bhoi district on Saturday.
Mumbai Taking the controversy over the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan a step further, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said the garden has only 10-12 rare trees. A green activist had said that there are 952 rare trees in the zoo. The BMC has also said it will set up skywalks for nature lovers and botany students to study the trees as the ground area will be inhabited by animals.
Human activities have increased the availability of nutrients in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In grasslands, this eutrophication causes loss of plant species diversity, but the mechanism of this loss has been difficult to determine.
