A preliminary checklist of bryophytes of Vellarimala in the Western Ghats of Kerala

Abstract

A checklist of bryophytes collected from the Vellarimala situated in the Western Ghat mountains of Kozhikode District, Kerala is presented. Preliminary survey shows the occurrence of 53 species of mosses and leafy liverworts. The need for conservation also is discussed.

Physcomitrium eurystomum Sendtn. (Funariaceae: Bryophyta) and Splachnobryum obtusum (Brid.) Müll. Hal. (Splachnobryaceae: Bryophyta), two rare moss species from the Western Ghats of Kerala

“…The bryological studies in the Western Ghats intensified during the past two decades and has resulted in the addition of several species to the area, including new species (Nair et al 2005;Manju et al 2008;Manju & Rajesh 2012;Daniels et al 2018;Daniels & Kariyappa 2019;Daniels & Raja 2020;Mufeed et al 2021;Manjula et al 2022). Still there are several areas remaining largely unexplored or underexplored.…”

Book review: Long, D. G. 2022. The bryophytes of the Wallich herbarium and catalogue. Acta Bryolichenologica Asiatica. Vol. 11, 104 pp., with 6 figures in colour. Paperback, size 25.0 × 17.6 cm. Effectively published on 1 June 2022. Finnish-Chinese Botanical Foundation, Lohja, Finland. ISBN: 978-952-67464-8-7.

“…Bryological research on the Indian subcontinent has a long tradition, dating back to the 1780s, although in Indian bryophyte literature (e.g., Gangulee 1969;Chopra 1975;Dabhade 1998;Nair et al 2005;Aziz & Vohra 2008;Chaudhary et al 2008;Daniels & Daniel 2013;Sandhya Rani et al 2014) Scottish physician Francis Buchanan Hamilton (1762-1829) is considered a pioneer collector of mosses in this region. In the years 1802-1803 he collected some mosses in Nepal before he became the Superitendent of the Shibpur East India Company Botanical Garden.…”