The Journal of the Indian Botanical Society
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
■ -.N The Journal of the Indian Botanical Society Vo]. XLIII 1964 ^ No. 2 A POLLEN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF INDIAN HONEYS B y p. K . K . N a ir Palynoloay Laboratory, National Botanic Gardens, Lucknow (Received for publication on January 5, 1<)62) Introduction T h e pollen flora of honeys is known lo provide information regarding the plants visited by the honey-bees for collecting nectar and pollen. Our present knowledge of pollen grains contained in Indian honeys is very meagre. Sen and Banerjee (1956) have analyzed the pollen content of a sample of honey obtained from a garden near Calcutta, and observed an overabundance of anemophilous sporomor.phs, Mittre (1958) has examined the pollen contents of ten samples of Indian honeys, known under the names Nepal honey, Haridwar honey, Almora honey, Kashmir honey, Lucknow honey, Lotus honey, and Sunderbans honey, and observed that the commercial samples are made up of mixtures of several kinds of honeys. It is also gathered that a comprehensive palynological investigation of the honeys of Maharashtra has been made at the Apicultural Laboratory, Maha- baleswar (Maharashtra, India). The approach in the present palyno logical study of Indian honeys is to obtain further information regard ing the Indian honey plants. M a t e r ia l a n d M e t h o d s The present study is based on 76 samples of Indian honeys, obtained from various sources (Table I), namely (i) The Pavilions of the various Indian States and other governmental organisations repre sented at the World Agricultural Fair, New Delhi, in the year 1959, (ii) National Botanic Gardens, Lucknow, and (iii) markets in Delhi and Lucknow. The honey samples are kept in the Palynology Laboratory, National Botanic Gardens, Lucknow. Pollen preparations have been made in the following way; Aboiit 1 c.c. of honey has been diluted with about lOc.c. of water, centri- ftiged, and the supernatant liquid decanted. To the sediment is added P. K. K. ^ A l k T a b l e T Notes on the source o f honey samples Locality Accession Name of the honey OI sample numbert production 2 1 3 i ^ 1 ‘Toon honey’(Ofl'rr/a) Dehra Duo, Uttar K.V.I.P.; W.A.F Pradesh o ‘Mustard’ .. ;t ‘Litchi’ {IVtfikeliiim) .. 4 •‘Kashmir’ .. Kashmir C Saharanpur, Uttar ” Pradesh 6 '•‘Saharanpur’ .. »» 7 ‘Gingelly’ (Mustard) .. Andhra State A.S.P.; W.A.F. 8 ‘Green Gram’ {^PAaseolm) It 1 > 9 ‘Neem’ [Aindirackta) .. 11 10 ‘Orange’ {Citrus) .. (> 11 ‘Manuka’ J > 12 ‘Safiota’ .. >; 13 ‘ TamarinJus’ .. 1) U ‘Soap nut’ (SafiinJus) ., >» t > 15 ‘Red Gram’ ( PvWn) .. n 16 ‘Gourd’ (Cucurbits) .. 1 • >» 17 ‘Jamun’ (Eugenia) .. 18 ‘Saffron’ (Crocus) .. Kashmir J. & K.P.; W.A.F. 19 'Ple. trantkus' ., y f ■;o Litchi’ {Nephfhum) .. Ranchi, Bihar State B.S.P.; W.A.F. 21 ‘Palas’ {BuUa) .. 11 22 : ‘Turbuza’ (CiVr////tf>) .. «» »> 2!) 11 24 11 »» 26 1» 26 >» 27 U 28 ‘Mustard’ {Brassica) .. ») 29 Mujaffarpur, Bihar t) State 30 *‘Kodai’ .. Kodaikanal, Madras M.S.P.; W.A.F. State 31 •‘Gandhi Niketan Ashram’ Madras State 32 1 33 :•‘St. Thomas Mt.’ .. ■f 34 ; •‘Kuringi’ .. Kuringi, Mudras State 35 ‘Sapindus' . 1 Mysore State »> 86 I •m^ella' ..i • > J7 ! 'Coces' ... 38 ' Eugenia jatnbolana' ..i • I 39 ' Lagtrstroemia macrocar fa ' \ ♦ > >> 40 : 'Pengamia glabra' .. j 41 ! ^Mangifera imiien' .. >> 42 i ‘Areca catechu' ,. ) 1 43 ''Citheraxylum' ., »» . 1) ** •‘Kashmir’ .. Kashmir K.G.A.E. 45 ! »» 1 POLLEN ANALYSIS OF INDIAN HONEYS T a b le I (C ontd.) l.ocality Accession Name of the honey of number sample production 1 2 3 4 • ‘Coorg’ M y-sore State K .V .I.r.; VV.A.K. Bilaspur, Madhya 11 ’ Pradesh 48 ,, Maharashtra Sl?te 49 ‘Pure’ Punjab Stnte P.S.P.; W.A.K no Bahraich, Uttar U.P.P.; W.A.F. Pradesh N.r..G..T.ucki\ow,U.P, N.B.r;. r .^.3 ‘Chamba’ Himalajaii Region C.M.D. 6-1 .'ii) m Uttar Pradesh 57 Himalayan Region •• 58 ” r>9 •‘fireenwali’ 00 61 *‘Ka?hmir’ f)2 • ‘Kashmir spread’ ,, ,, 03 , , 64 65 • ‘Nepal’ ,, C.M.L. 6B ‘Pure’ Uttar Pradesh C.M.D. 67 Himalayan Region 68 Uttar Pradesh (i!) 70 •‘Rajasthan’ Rajasthan State C.M.L. 71/ 1 72 •‘Sunderljans’ West Bengal w’ks.P.; A'.A.l’. 73 ‘K eU ’ (A f^ a ) Mahabaleshwar, K.V.I.P.; W.A.R Bombay State 74 75 ♦ ‘Kashmir’ Kashmir 76 ' Amarnnthtis itidiio' My.sore State M .S.l'.; W.A.f*'. * Names after the localities of production of the honey samples. Abbreviations.—A.S.P. == Andhra State Pavilion; B.S.P. = Bombay Stale Pavilion; C.M.D. == Commercial samples. Market, Delhi: C.M.L. — Commercial samples, Market, Lucknow; J. &. K. P. = Jammu and Kashmir State Pavilion; K.G.A.E. = Kashmir Government Arts Emporium; K.V.I.P. = Khadi and Village Industries Pavilion; M.S.P. == Madras State Pavilion; N.B.G. = National Botanic Gardens, Lucknow; P.S.P. ^ Punjab State Pavilion; U.P.P. = Uttar Pradesh Pavilion; W.A.F. ^ World Agricultural Fair, New Delhi; W.B.S. = West Bengal State Pavilion. 5c.c. of glacial acetic acid, followed by the acetoiysis mixture (9c.c. accUc anhydride, and 1 c.c. conc. sulphuric acid, added in drops). Tlie dispersion is kept in water and heated from 70-100" C. The dispersion is then centrifuged and the waste acetoiysis mixture ‘lecunted. To the sediment of pollen is added dilute (50%) glycerine. The dispersion is again centrifuged, and the pollen are caught on a pellet of glycerine jelly, placed on a micro-slide, and mounted by a No. 0 cover glass. O bservations In presenting the pollen analytical data, pollen spectra (Text-Figs. 1-48) are drawn for every such sample that yielded at least more than a hundred pollen grains. But, for purposes of general comparison, the honey samples included in the present study have been made into 5 categories, namely those from (i) Peninsular Region (States of Andhra, Madras and Mysore), (ii) Western Region (States of Maharashtra and Rajasthan), (iii) Indogangetic Region (parts of the States of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab), (iv) Eastern Region (States of Bihar and West Bengal), and (v) Himalayan Region (from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to Assam in the east). Consequently, pollen percentages have been calculated of indi vidual honey samples, and also for groups of honey samples covering every region. List of Plants * Considering all the samples together, several sporomorphs have been recognised and are listed hereunder. The identification of the sporomorphs has been made to the family or genus level. However, the possible related species are mentioned within brackets against the names of families or genera. Those plants which are denoted by (*) in the following list are anemophilous, and the rest entomophilous : Acanthaceae Compositae (Bwleria aristata) Artimisia sp, (Justicia adhatodd) Carthamus itinctorius) {J. gerandusa) ■ Xanthium (strumaricum) (Strobilanthes sp.) {Helianthus sp.) Amaranthaceae (Launea sp.) (Aerva tomentosa) (Vernonia sp.) {Amaranthus sp.) Cruciferae Anacardia^ Brassica (campestris) Mangifera indica (Leptdium sativum) ApoQTMcew iMatthiola Incana) Berb^S CupuUferae Caooaridaccae Crataem religiosa Casjanopsi, sp. Caprifoliaceae Corylus colurtm Lonicera sp. ®PP- Caiyopbyllaceae Dipsacaceae {Saponaria sp.) Dipsacus sp. (SteUaria sp.) Euphorbiaccae Casuarinaceae {Acalypha sp.) Casuarim equisetifolia Emblica officinalis liaorae Putranjiva roxbwghii ' (album) Ricinus communis iiraariaceae Nymphaeaceae Corydalis sp. Nelumho nucijera Treraiiiaceae Oleaceae Impadenx sp. Jasmimmi sp. Oxalis sp. (Ligustrum sp.) Gramineae (i) Cultivated Onagraceae {Oryza saliva) Epilobium sp. (Panicuni sp.) Oenothera lamarkian: (Pennisetiim typhoide.s) Palmae (Sorghum viilgarc) Borassus flabellifer (Zea mays) (Calamus sp.) (ii) Wild (Unidenlified) Cocos mwifera Iridaccae (Phoenix sp.) r rociis salivtis Pinaceae Juglandaceac Pinus sp. Juglans regia Plantaginaceae I.obialae Planlago lanceolalu (Lamium aWum) Polemoniaccac Pleclranlhiis sp. Polemonium coeruleiim (Ociniimi sp.) {Satvia sp.) Polygalaccae Leguminosae Polygala sp. (i) PapiUonatae Polygonaceac Butea monosperma Polygonum (plebejum) (Crotalaria medicaginea) Rumex (hastalus) (Dalbergia sissoo) ( Rumex sp.) . (Desmodium sp.) Portulacaceae (Doiichos lab tab) Portulaca sp. Erylhrina sp. Prolcaceae (Phaseolus sp.) Grevillea robusta (Pongamia glabra) Ranunculaceae {Trifoliiim ^p.) (ii) Caesalpinioideae Nigella (damascena) {Bauhinia sp.) Ranunculus sp. (Cassia sp.) Rosaceae (Caesalpinia sp.) (Prunus sp.) Delonix regia (Pyrus sp.) {Tamarirtdus indica) (Rosa sp.) (iii) Mimoseae Rutaceae Acacia sp. Citrus sp. Alhizzia lahbek (Evodia sp.) Lihaceae (Murraya sp.) (Asparagus sp.) Sapindaceae (Lilium sp.) Aesculus indica (Smilax sp.) Nephelium litchi Loranthaceae Sapindus (mukorosii) Loramhus sp. S. (Saponaria) Lylhraceae Sapotaceae Lagerslroemia &p. Achras {sapota) Malvaceae Mimusops (elangi) (Althaea rosea) Sinarubaceae (Hibiscus sp.) Ailanthus excelsa ^.^afmalia malabarica Solanaceae Meluceae (Datura sp.) Azadirachta indica (Solanum sp.) Cedrela toona (Capsicum sp.) «yitaceae (Lyeopersicum esculent tin-) liarringtonia acutangula Sterculeaceae I aUistemon sp. Pterospermum acerifoHur. hicalyptus sp, Tiliaccae Eugenia sp. Grewia (asiatica) Melaleuca sp. G. (oppositifolia) f^idium gU(^ava Vmbellifera^ Urticaceae Verbenaceae (Cannabis sativd) Citharexvhmi (Celtis australis) Vitaceae H ohptelea integrifoUa viraceae (Morns sp.) (nnifera) Trema orientalis Pollen analysis The pollen composition of the various honeys differ with every sample, as evident from the pollen spectra (Text-Figs. 1-48). The palynological data are analysed to assess the comparative significance of the honey plants for a whole region (all honey samples from a reeion considered together), and also for a particular locality