Liverworts Flora of Parsons valley Nilgiri hills Western…地钱帕森斯谷的植物山西部.pdfVIP

Liverwort flora of Parson´s valley 1 Liverworts Flora of Parson’s valley, Nilgiri hills (Western Ghats), South India Afroz Alam Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Banasthali Vidyapith-304022 (Rajasthan), India, afrozalamsafvi@ Abstract. Parson’s valley is an area explored for the first time in Indian Bryology; it is situated in Nilgiri hills (Western Ghats). The region is very conducive for the growth of liverworts and it is evident by the present study of recent collections from this area in which 27 taxa (under 12 genera and 5 families) of liverworts have been recorded, of which few are new to Nilgiri hills as well as south India. Introduction The present work is the result of an investigation of liverworts collected from the Parson’s valley (Nilgiri hills), an area explored for the first time in Indian Bryology. Parson’s valley is situated at cardinals 11°23′29″N 76°31′38″E in the eastern part of Nilgiri hill ranges at an altitude of about 2200m and is about 22 km from Ootacamund. The flora of the area is significant as it lacks tea and coffee plantations, commonly occurring on slopes of the Nilgiris and provides a natural cover of dense forest as it encircled by Mukuruthy National Park. The temperature, humidity, rainfall and elevation provide a favorably conducive environment for the luxuriance of liverwort flora, which remained neglected so far. In a recent collection from the area 26 taxa (under 11 genera and 5 families) of liverworts have been recorded, of which few are new to Nilgiri hills as well as south India. These include Plagiochila subtropica St. and Plagiochila gracilis Lindenb. Gott. Both of these were earlier restricted to eastern Himalayas. Plagiochila beddomei St., generally