Description
Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh Orchids of Odisha A Handbook by Misra Sarat
Orchids are one of the largest groups of flowering plants exhibiting an incredible range of diversity in size, shape, structure, number and colour of the flowers. They are spread practically all over the world, but particularly abundant in the warm humid tropics. India is a major orchid-rich habitat with nearly 1,350 species. More than half of this grows in the north eastern region of the country.The state of Odisha (formerly Orissa) located in the east of India has rich vegetation, Orchids included, 137 species of orchids, both in terrestrial and epiphytic forms, almost equal in numbers, are known from the state. A book, Orchids of Orissa, was published by this author in 2004. Field study during the past ten years has enriched information on the growth habits of the wild orchids of Odisha, which is included in this treatment, eight more orchids including two novelties have been added to the known number of species in Odisha.Orchids of Odisha contains information on the lifeform, growth habits and morphology of the Odisha orchids. A large number of figures have been provided to explain this as also to show the diversity in their forms. Orchid habitats in Odisha and their flowering behaviour have been provided. The status of orchids in the state and their Conservation measures have been briefly discussed.The enumeration of species consists of the morphological description of the species, its flowering period, field notes and locality of occurrence in one page. The facing page contains analytical drawings of the concerned species made by the author. A key to the species based on visible field characters provided to help in identifying the species. A glossary of botanic terms is provided at the end to help the readers.