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Pleione 15(2): 89 - 111 2021. ISSN: 0973-9467 © East Himalayan Society for Spermatophyte Taxonomy doi:10.26679/Pleione.15.2.2021.089-111 Vascular climbing plants in the flora of Rono Hills in the Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh, India Kenyi Rigia1, Pyonim Lungphi, Pinki Gogoi, Ayam Victor Singh and Abhaya Prasad Das Department of Botany, Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills, Doimukh - 791112, Arunachal Pradesh, India 1Communicating author, E-mail: [email protected] [Received 09.07.2021; Revised 26.07.2021; Accepted 12.08.2021; Published 31.08.2021] Abstract The richness of the flora of Arunachal Pradesh in North-east India is well-known. Papum Pare district of it is situated on Assam border and its altitude varies from 170 – 2700 m amsl. An intensive survey for the climbing vascular plants of Rono Hills area of the Papum Pare district, which is mostly a tropical area, lead to the recognition of 120 species of which two are pteridophytes, one gymnosperm, 13 monocotyledons and remaining 104 are dicotyledonous. While the occurrence of 21 species of liana and 49 species of shrubby climbers in the vegetation speaks for its good status of vegetation, the record of 23 species of exotic species, of which majority are garden ornamentals or crop plants, also speaks for the high anthropogenic interferences. Apart from the old small villages, a number of new settlements are now developing in Rono Hills and exerting pressure on the local vegetation. Key words: Rono Hills, Papum Pare, Arunachal Pradesh, Climbing plants INTRODUCTION Arunachal Pradesh is the largest state in the North-eastern part of India bordering TAR of China on north, Myanmar in East and Bhutan in the west. The botanical explorative activities started in this state quite late and that may be due to the inaccessibility, absence of local trained man-power and non-availability of fund for such works (Das & Lungphi 2018, 2019). Apart from the three volumes of Materials for the Materials for the Flora of Arunachal Pradesh (Hajra et al. 1996; Giri et al. 2008; Chowdhery et al. 2009) and A Contribution to the Flora of Namdapha (Chauhan et al. 1996) no other taxonomic work was available to access the flora of this state. However, in recent years, some publications have been made on the flora and ethnobotany of different parts and tribal communities from the state (Croom 1983; Chauhan et al. 1996; Tag 2007; Gibji et al. 2012; Boko & Narashimhan 2014; Mao 2013; Mao & Roy 2016; Jeyaprakash et al. 2017; Lungphi et al. 2018, 2019; Taram et al. 2020; Hage et al. 2021; Toku et al. 2021). Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh is situated on the Assam border and mostly with low hills except a few areas. The district is geographically located at 26°562 and 27°352 N latitude and 93°122 and 94°132 E longitudes with altitude varies from 170 to 2700 m AMSL and covers an area of 3462 sq km (Anonymous 2014; Map 1). Lal Anne (Dafla Hills) is the highest peak within the district reaching an altitude of 3776 m AMSL. The district is a part of Brahmaputra River basin and the main rivers are Dikrang, Pachin, Panyar, Pare, Papum, Kimin and Kud. The Arunachal University was established in the year 1984, which was renamed as Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) in 1996. The area is a hill-top, flattened mechanically, and situated at about the central part of Rono Hills with central coordinates 27°08‘50" N and 93°46’01" E and covering an area of 302 acres or 1.22215 sq km of hilly land (Map – 3; https:// 90 Vascular climbers of Rono Hills area of Arunachap Pradesh Map 1: Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh [source: Anonymous 2014] Map 2: Rono Hills area demarcated on Google image Kenyi Rigia et al. 91 www.rgu.ac.in/). The elevation of the University campus on the playground is only 252 m AMSL. Before its establishment the entire area was mostly forested. However, The F-Sector residential area of RGU is situated in little higher elevation and the hills behind this Sector are even much higher. The lowest altitude places for the Rono Hills may be along the Doimukh – Harmuti Road. The Rono Hills area can be demarcated from Rono Village near Doimukh and extending up to the Emchi Village (Map – 2) covering an area of c. 3.1 sq km (3057278 sq m). Though small, but prominent villages in the area includes Amba, Doimukh H.Q., Emchi, Gumto, Midpu, Neepco, Rono, Sang-dupota, and Tayang-Tarang. Though there are some small villages on Rono Hills, but most of the area is forest- covered with dense growth of trees (Das et al. 2021). In such forests the occurrence of plants of different habit groups are growing and climbing plants appear to be quite common (Figures 1, 2). The local climatic conditions are quite favorable for their growth. With the variation of altitude, the vegetation in the Papum Pare district is also varying considerably. While it is mostly tropical in major portion, in higher hills it is sub-tropical to temperate. Vegetation in the district mostly belongs to three different types: (1) Tropical evergreen, (2) Tropical mixed-evergreen, and (3) Secondary Forest. Four climatic-seasons can be recognized in the area (i) Winter: December to February, (ii) Pre-monsoon: March to May, (iii) Monsoon: June to mid-October, and (iv) Transition or Autumn: mid-October and November (Anonymous 2011). This is also true for the Rono Hills area. Climbers form a special habit group of plants with weaker stems that can’t help themselves to grow erect and they need to use a support to climb up. This type of plants employs different strategies for climbing up and sometime produce some special organs. They often spread over the forest-canopy to enjoy the brightest available sunlight (Das 2004; Musthafa et al. 2017). Their stem is of relatively less weight than trees and shrubs and possess maximum flexibility and high tensile strength which helps them to make use of natural or artificial support for climbing (Burris et al. 2018). Charles Darwin was the first to classify climbers into spirally twinning plants, leaf climbers, tendril bearers, hook and root climbers based on their mode of attachment to different supports (Darwin 1865; Burris et al. 2018). Das (2004) provided a detailed account for different modes of climbing by plants. And, for recognition of climbing plants proper field observation on the mechanism of climbing of such a species is very important. The human settlements are steadily extending in different parts of Rono Hills along with other related facilities are being established and, no doubt, human population is also sharply increasing in the area. All these will certainly affect the natural vegetation formations in the area and will lead to the change of flora. Keeping this in mind the survey for the climbing flora of Rono Hills region was undertaken to visualize the effects of modernization on flora. MATERIALS AND METHODS After the preliminary recce and consultation of maps the study area, Rono Hills, was demarcated (Map 2). Different parts of Rono Hills were surveyed during July 2019 to June 2021, round the year in different seasons and specimens were collected and processed into mounted Herbarium-sheets following Jain & Rao (1977), Bridson & Forman (1998) and Das (2021). Plants were identified using local floras including Hooker (1872 – 1897), Kanjilal et al. (1934 – 1940), Hajra et al. (1996), Giri et al. (2008) and Chowdhery et al. (2009). Some e-floras and e-herbaria were also consulted for identification and confirmation. For updated nomenclature and family delimitation mainly the www.plantsoftheworldonline.org was followed. Other relevant websites like www.worldfloraonline.org; www.ipni.org; www.theplantlist.org were also consulted whenever those were essential. The specimens will 92 Vascular climbers of Rono Hills area of Arunachap Pradesh Map 3: Rajiv Gandhi University on top of the Rono Hills [Google image] Figure 1. Mean maximum and minimum temperature in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh [Source: Anonymous 2014] be deposited to the AUH-Herbarium of the Department of Botany, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh after the project is over. Each plant has been enumerated with correct name, basionym and commonly used synonym if any, flowering period, etc. for proper understanding. A detailed artificial- dichotomous key has been prepared using mostly easily observable characters to identify the climber flora of Rono Hills area. Kenyi Rigia et al. 93 Figure 2. Mean monthly precipitation in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh [Source: Anonymous 2014] RESULT For enumeration no recognized system of classification has been followed. The recorded plants are enumerated alphabetically, first to their families, then the genera within a family and species of a genus. For each plant there are (i) Correct name; (ii) Basionym and/or common synonym if any; (iii) Author citation in standard format; (iv) Protologue reference; (v) Family; (vi) Local name; (vii) availability status; and (viii) Exciccata. At the end of the enumeration one artificial dichotomous key has been provided to identify these plants using some simple and easily observable characters. ENUMERATION ACANTHACEAE Thunbergia alata Bojer ex Sims, Bot. Mag. 52: t. 2591. 1825. Use: Garden ornamental; Status: Exotic, naturalized; Exciccata: Kenyi et al. 006; dated 25.10.2010. Thunbergia coccinea Wall. ex D.Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal.: 120. 1825. Local name: Ngapaa pung (Tangsa); Use: often used as ornamental; Status: rare, in gardens. Exsiccata: Kenyi et al. 072; dated 19.10.2019. Thunbergia fragrans Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 1: 47. 1796. Status: rare, in gardens. Exsiccata: Kenyi et al. 034; dated 02.03.2019.