A nnual Progress Report (2072/073 -2015/016) Report nnual Progress Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Department of Plant Resources Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL) Department of Plant Resources Godawari-5, Lalitpur, Nepal Telephone : 977-1-5174277 National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL) Fax : 977-1-5560549 Godawari-5, Lalitpur, Nepal Post Box No.: 3708 E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.kath.gov.np 2073 Secretary (MFSC), Dr. Uday Chandra Thakur, awarding the Flora Writing Training (Inauguration Ceremony with the DG NHPL Chief on the occasion of Plant Resources Day, Rajdev Prasad Yadav) Chaitra 29, 2072 Photography Session by the DDG-Sanjeev Kumar Rai Receiving Orchid Holotypes from Dr. Bhakta B. Raskoti Musa balbisiana (Wild Banana) collected from Palpa Maintenance of the Plant Conservation House (Source: DPR Poster, 2016) Government of Nepal Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation Department of Plant Resources National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL) Godawari-5, Lalitpur, Nepal 2073 Date of Publication: 16th July, 2016 Number of Copies: 200 Annual Progress Report © 2016 National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL) Godawari-5, Lalitpur, Nepal P.O. Box: 3708 ISBN: 978-9937-0-1223-2 Published by: National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL) Godawari-5, Lalitpur Nepal www.kath.gov.np FOREWORD The National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL) has been engaged in the country wide plant exploration, description, identification, nomenclature and publication (in the form of Keys, Enumerations, Regional and Local Floras, and Fascicles) since its establishment in 1961. Additionally, it is the national pioneer institute to develop plant tissue culture protocols with sand rooting technology since 1976. It serves as a ‘National Reference Centre’ on scientific identification of plants that supports researchers, students and traders for both academic and judicial process. The National Herbarium has been listed and recognized internationally as KATH Herbarium in Index Herbariorum (IH) which is published by New York Botanical Garden, USA. Moreover, the NHPL is one of the members of Global Taxonomic Initiative (GTI) Steering Committee Nepal, 2007. Long term research and knowledge generation is a vital element of biodiversity conservation initiatives. In this regard, one of the priority actions of the ‘Nepal National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan: 2014- 2020’ aims to develop knowledge generation through ‘Flora of Nepal’ publication by 2020. So, it is time to plan and implement on Human Resources Development and Management through capacity building and motivation along with modern infrastructures facilities. It is my pleasure to publish the ‘Annual Progress Report’ for information dissemination as means of communication and transparency. I believe it will provide additional background for effective planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in the coming fiscal year. In this connection, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Rajdev Prasad Yadav, Director General of the Department of Plant Resources (DPR), Kathmandu for guiding and supporting the program. I would like to thank to the researchers who provided the herbarium specimens to enrich the KATH and hope this number will increase in coming days. I would like to appreciate Assistant Research Officers namely Mr. Ganga Datt Bhatt, Mr. Tirtha Raj Pandey and Mr. Dhan Raj Kandel for presenting the report on time. Similarly, I would like to thank to the chief of all sections (Hem Raj Paudel, Lilaram Tharu, Rita Chhetri, Gaurav Parmar, Rajendra Acharya, Amrit KC, Krishna Dahal and Yaksha Kumar Basnet) and all the staff of the NHPL for hard work to fulfill the program targets. Finally, I will be grateful for your valuable feedbacks for the future improvement. Thank you! Ramesh Basnet Chief, National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories (NHPL) Godawari-5, Lalitpur, Nepal 15.7.2016 Let’s Explore Our Plant Diversity for Present and Future Abbreviation and Acronyms % - Percentage APG - Angiosperm Phylogeny Group asl - above sea level BAP - Benzyl Amino Purine CDB - Central Department of Botany CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Wild Species of Fauna and Flora cm - centi metre DDG - Deputy Director General DG - Director General DPR - Department of Plant Resources DPRO - District Plant Resources Office et al. - and others GSPC - Global Strategy for Plant Conservation GTI - Global Taxonomic Initiative ID - Identity KATH - National Herbarium, Nepal KSL - Kailash Sacred Landscape KSLCDI - Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative m - metre MAPs - Medicinal and Aromatic Plants MFSC - Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation mol/L - molecules per litre MS Excel - Micro Soft Excel MS - Murashige and Skoog NAA - Naphthalene Acetic Acid NBG - National Botanical Garden NHPL - National Herbarium and Plant Laboratories NRs. - Nepalese Rupees S.No. - Serial Number TU - Tribhuvan University UK - United Kingdom UNDP - United Nation Development Program USA - United States of America VDC - Village Development Committee Let’s Explore Our Plant Diversity for Present and Future Contents S.No. Title Page No. 1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................1 2. Summary of the Programs and Achievements.......................................................................................................3 3. Population status review of endemic plants of Nepal ...........................................................................................4 4. Herbarium specimens added as ‘New to KATH’ ..................................................................................................4 5. Management, preservation and housing of herbarium specimens ........................................................................6 6. Sorting and identification of the backlog specimens ............................................................................................7 7. Flora Writing Training for Nepal Flora Contributors .......................................................................................... 11 8. Phanerogams Section ..........................................................................................................................................17 8.1 Type specimens .........................................................................................................................................19 8.2 List of Type Specimens preserved in the KATH .......................................................................................21 9. Digitization of herbarium specimens preserved in the KATH ............................................................................26 10. Pteridophyte Studies ............................................................................................................................................27 10.1 An Account of Pteridophytes from Kaski District, Central Nepal............................................................27 10.2 Documentation of Pteridophytes from Surrounding of Rara Wetland, Mugu, West Nepal......................28 11. Ecology and Environment Section ......................................................................................................................30 11.1 Distribution notes on Nepalese Urtica L. .................................................................................................30 11.2 Adaptive strategies of some alpine flowering plants of Langtang Region ...............................................31 12. Study of Prasiola formosana Okada from Kavrepalanchok District ..................................................................33 13. Field observation of Panchase: a biodiversity hotspot in Central Nepal ............................................................34 14. Spirit collection from Annapurna Conservation Area and Panchase area, Central Nepal ..................................36 15. Mycology Section ................................................................................................................................................36 16. Anatomy Section .................................................................................................................................................38 17. Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) Section .............................................................................................................39 17.1 Vegetation survey of Gaja Lake, Baglung.................................................................................................39 17.2 Vegetation survey of Phoksundo and surrounding area, Dolpa ................................................................40 18. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) Section ................................................................................................41 18.1. Seed Collection of Gaultheria fragrantissima L. from Dolakha District .................................................41 18.2. Seed collection of economically important plants from Makwanpur District ..........................................41 19. Tissue Culture Section .........................................................................................................................................43 20. Documentation of Traditional Knowledge of Jirel Community, Dolakha