Int. J. Adv. Res. Biol. Sci. (2020). 7(11): 96-99 International Journal of Advanced Research in Biological Sciences ISSN: 2348-8069 www.ijarbs.com DOI: 10.22192/ijarbs Coden: IJARQG (USA) Volume 7, Issue 11 -2020 Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22192/ijarbs.2020.07.11.012 An account on Endemic Taxa of Indian Subcontinent collected from Buxa Tiger Reserve, ,

Anant Kumar Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of , Howrah-711103, West Bengal, India E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract The twenty five taxa that were collected in between 2011 to 2015 from Buxa Tiger Reserve, Alipurduar, West Bengal share endemicity between India and Indian subcontinent countries. Out of 25 taxa, two taxa are strictly endemic to India. Eranthemum erythrochilum J.R.I. Wood (Acanthaceae) found only in Buxa Tiger Reserve (W. Bengal duars) in the world. In the present paper author discussed their phenology and abundance in the tiger reserve.

Keywords: Alipurduar, Buxa Tiger Reserve, Endemic, Indian subcontinent, West Bengal.

Introduction in an area of 738.5 sq km. It is bordered by in the North, district in the South, The Indian subcontinent includes all or part of by the Sankosh river in the East and Cooch Behar Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri forest division in the West. Buxa National Park (117 Lanka, as well as the Maldives. Geographically, it is sq km), Buxa Wildlife Sanctuary (251.5 sq km), and the peninsular region in south-central Asia, delineated Reserve Forest (370 sq km) are essentially a part of by the in the north, the Hindu Kush in the BTR. west, and the Arakanese in the east. India harbours highest number of endemic plants next to Australia During the intensive botanical explorations of the (Hajra & Mudgal, 1997). They largely occur in three Buxa Tiger Reserve from 2009 to 2015, author major phytogeographical regions, viz., the Himalayas collected immense number of botanically interesting & North East India, Peninsular India, and the taxa. After perusal of literature (Grierson and Long, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. 1984-2001; Ahmedullah and Nayar, 1987; Mostaph and Uddin, 2013; Singh et al., 2015; Bhattacharjee and The Protected areas are one of the well-recognized in- Chowdhery, 2018; Kambale & Yadav, 2019; Press et situ conservation methods to protect the biodiversity al., 2000), and distribution of the taxa in world were across the world. Scientific Research/documentation verified through authentic online database: Plants of in the protected areas is vital for a better understanding the world online (http://powo.science.kew.org) of ecosystems, their functions, ecology and status of revealed that 25 taxa collected from the reserve area various species and their habitats. The Buxa Tiger are endemic to India, and Indian subcontinent Reserve (BTR), Alipurduar, West Bengal falls in the countries. Out of 25, two taxa are strictly endemic to foot hills of the Eastern Himalayas (Duars area). It India. Eranthemum erythrochilum J.R.I. Wood was established in 1983 under , spreads (Acanthaceae) found only in Buxa Tiger Reserve 96 Int. J. Adv. Res. Biol. Sci. (2020). 7(11): 96-99

(W. Bengal duars) in the world while Baliospermum In present investigation, an annotated checklist of 25 calycinum Mull.Arg. var. bracteatum Chakrab. & N.P. taxa have been provided in table 1 with its phenology Balakr. distributed in and West and abundance in study area. Bengal (BTR) in India.

Table 1: Distribution of endemic taxa of Indian subcontinent collected from BTR with its phenology and abundance.

Sl. Indian subcontinent Abundance in Name of taxa with family Phenology No. countries study area Baliospermum calycinum Mull.Arg. India (Arunachal 1 var. bracteatum Chakrab. & N.P. Pradesh and West Sep.–Oct. Scarce Balakr. (Euphorbiaceae) Bengal) Eranthemum erythrochilum J.R.I. India (BTR/W. Bengal 2 Jan. Feb. Scarce Wood (Acanthaceae) duars) – Acanthus carduaceus Griff. 3 India, Bhutan Dec. Mar. Scarce (Acanthaceae) – Agapetes bhutanica N.P. Balakr. & 4 India, Bhutan Mar. May Scarce Sud. Chowdhury (Ericaceae) – Ardisia involucrata Kurz 5 India, Bhutan Jun. Feb. Scarce (Myrsinaceae) – Beilschmiedia dalzellii (Meisn.) 6 India, Bhutan Mar. May Scarce Kosterm. (Lauraceae) – Dendrophthoe falcata (L.f.) Blume 7 var. pubescens (Hook.f.) V. India, Bhutan Aug.–Mar. Scarce Chandras. (Loranthaceae) Elaeagnus pyriformis Hook.f. 8 India, Bhutan Dec. May Scarce (Elaeagnaceae) – Impatiens latiflora Hook.f. & 9 India, Bhutan Sep. Dec. Scarce Thomson (Balsaminaceae) – Lindenbergia hookeri C.B. Clarke ex 10 India, Bhutan Jan. Jul. Scarce Hook.f. (Scrophulariaceae) – Lindenbergia titensis Sikdar & Maiti 11 India, Bhutan Jan. Apr. Scarce (Scrophulariaceae) – 12 Piper betleoides C. DC. (Piperaceae) India, Bhutan Feb.–Apr. Common Synotis bhot (C.B. Clarke) C. Jeffrey 13 India, Bhutan Dec. Feb. Scarce & Y.L. Chen (Asteraceae) – Trachelospermum assamense 14 India, Bhutan Apr. Feb. Scarce Woodson (Apocynaceae) – Didymocarpus pedicellatus R.Br. 15 India, Nepal Jun. Oct. Scarce (Gesneriaceae) – Neanotis rhombicarpa T. Yamaz. 16 India, Nepal Aug. Oct. Scarce (Rubiaceae) – Zeuxine lindleyana A.N. Rao 17 India, Nepal Jan. May Scarce (Orchidaceae) – Bambusa cacharensis R.B. 18 India, Bangladesh Feb. Scarce Majumdar (Poaceae) Hoya parasitica (Roxb.) Wall. 19 India, Bangladesh Sep. May Scarce (Asclepiadaceae) – Ehretia psilosiphon R.R. Mill 20 India, Bhutan, Nepal Feb. Jun. Common (Ehretiaceae) –

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21 Rubia sikkimensis Kurz (Rubiaceae) India, Bhutan, Nepal Nov.–Mar. Scarce Homalium napaulense (DC.) Benth. India, Bangladesh, 22 Aug. Dec. Scarce (Flacourtiaceae) Nepal – Ziziphus apetala Hook.f. India, Bangladesh, 23 Mar. May Scarce (Rhamnaceae) Nepal – Zeuxine longilabris (Lindl.) Trimen 24 India, Nepal, Sri Lanka Jan. Mar. Common (Orchidaceae) – Ceropegia macrantha Wight India, Bhutan, Nepal, 25 Aug. Oct. Scarce (Asclepiadaceae) Pakistan –

The plants that are restricted to India only (02 taxa); taxa); India, Nepal and Sri Lanka (01 taxa), and India, India and Bhutan (12 taxa); India and Nepal (03 taxa); Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan (01 taxa) shown in the Fig. 1. India and Bangladesh (02 taxa); India, Bhutan and The Buxa Tiger Reserve share highest number of taxa Nepal (02 taxa); India, Bangladesh and Nepal (02 with Bhutan.

Fig. 1: Number of endemic taxa found in India, and Indian subcontinent countries.

Acknowledgments References

Author is grateful to the Director, Botanical Survey of Ahmedullah, M. and Nayar, M.P. 1987. Endemic India, Kolkata and the Scientist-in-Charge, Central Plants of the Indian Region (Peninsular India). National Herbarium (CNH), BSI, Howrah, for Vol. 1. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. facilities and encouragement. We thank the Principal Bhattacharjee, A. and Chowdhery, H.J. 2018. Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), West Bengal, Fascicles of Flora of India (Orchidaceae: and all officials of Buxa Tiger Reserve for their Orchidoideae, Cranichideae: Subtribe support during the botanical collections. Goodyerinae), 28: 1–285 & Plates 1–46, Photos 1–65. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata.

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Grierson, A.J.C. and Long, D.G. 1984-2001. Flora of Bhutan, Vols. 1-3. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. Hajra, P.K. and Mudgal, V. 1997. Plant Diversity Hotspot in India: An Overview. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. Kambale, S.S. and Yadav, S.R. 2019. Taxonomic revision of Ceropegia (Apocynaceae: Ceropegieae) in India. Rheedea 29(1): 1–115. Mostaph, M.K. and Uddin, S.B. 2013. Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Press, J.R., Shrestha, K.K. and Sutton, D.A. 2000. Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal. The Natural History Museum, London. (http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id =110, accessed on 10.10.2020).

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Subject: Botany Quick Response Code DOI:10.22192/ijarbs.2020.07.11.012

How to cite this article: Anant Kumar . (2020). An account on Endemic Taxa of Indian Subcontinent collected from Buxa Tiger Reserve, Alipurduar, West Bengal. Int. J. Adv. Res. Biol. Sci. 7(11): 96-99. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22192/ijarbs.2020.07.11.012

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