Pteridology in the New Millennium
Pteridology in theNew Millennium
NBRI Golden Jubilee Volume
Edited by
Subhash ChandraNational Botanical Research Institute,
CSIR, New Delhi, India, Pteridology Laboratory, NBRI, Lucknow, India
and
Mrittunjai SrivastavaNational Botanical Research Institute,
CSIR, New Delhi, India, Pteridology Laboratory, NBRI, Lucknow, India
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-90-481-6222-2 ISBN 978-94-017-2811-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-2811-9
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved© 2003
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmittedin any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording
or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exceptionof any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered
and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
Cover Photo: Pteris wallichiana Ag. - A threatened plant of Kumaun
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2003
NBRI GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME
This volume is a collection of research papers on
pteridology published in honour of Professor B. K. Nayar,
founder of the Pteridology Laboratory of the National
Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, India, on the eve of
the golden jubilee year, 2002, of the NBRI, a National
Laboratory under C.S.I.R., New Delhi, India.
v
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Professor S. S. Bir
Manouli House, 33-Y,
The Mall, Patiala-147 001 (India)
Professor S. C. Verma
5452/1, Cat-II, Modern Complex, Manimajra
Chandigarh-160 101 (India)
Email: [email protected]
Professor U. Sen
Botany Department, Kalyani University
Kalyani, West Bengal (India)
Professor G. K. Srivastava
Botany Department, University of Allahabad
Allahabad-211 002 (India)
E. mail: [email protected]
Professor P. G. Windisch
Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS)
Centro de Ciências da Saúde.
Laboratório de Botânica Av. Unisinos 950, São
Leopoldo, RS. 93.022-00 (Brazil)
Email: [email protected]
Professor B. C. Tan
Cryptogamic Laboratory
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent
119260 (Singapore)
Email: [email protected]
Dr. X. C. Zhang
Institute of Botany, The Herbaria P. E.
The Chinese Academy Of Sciences
20 Nanxineun, Beijing-100093 (China)
Email: [email protected]
vi
PROF. BALA KRISHNAN NAYAR
15 September, 1927�
vii
CONTENTS
Chapter Page No.
List of Contributors xiii
Foreword xxi
Editors’ Note xxiii
Preface I xxv
Preface II xxvii
Preface III xxix
Preface IV xxxi
GENERAL PAPERS
1 Professor Bala Krishnan Nayar: A biographical sketch
Subhash Chandra
1-10
2 The Pteridology Laboratory, N.B.R.I., Lucknow (India)
Mrittunjai Srivastava
11-13
SYSTEMATICS
3 Taxonomy and biogeography of Indian pteridophytes
Gopinath Panigrahi
15-24
4 Phylogenetics, biogeograpgy and classification of the
woodwardioid ferns (Blechnaceae)
Raymond Cranfill and Masahiro Kato
25-48
5 Review of the family Woodsiaceae (Diels) Herter of
Eurasia
Alexandr Ivanovich Shmakov
49-64
6 An Introduction to the pteridophytes of Hainan Island,
South China
Xian-Chun Zhang
65-71
7 Notes on new or interesting Asplenium species from
Western Asia, including comments on Ching & Wu
(1985), and Fraser-Jenkins (1992) Reliquiae
Reichsteinianae 1
Ronald Louis Leo Viane and Tadeus Reichstein
73-105
8 Diversity and distribution patterns of Aspleniaceae in
Brazil
Lana da Silva Sylvestre and Paulo Günter Windisch
107-120
9 Two new species of Cyathea from North-Eastern India
Tanoy Bandyopadhyay, Tuhinsri Sen, and Uday Sen
121-132
10 Distributional study of the genus Cyrtomium C. Presl
(Dryopteridaceae)
Jin Mei-Lu and Xiao Cheng
133-141
ix
11 Taxonomic studies on the family Sinopteridaceae and
the genus Ctenitopsis (Tectariaceae) from Hainan
Island, China
Gang-Min Zhang, Shi-Yong Dong, Xian-Chun Zhang, and
Shu-Gang Lu
143-151
12 Valuable and noteworthy Chinese fern specimens
preserved at the herbarium of Singapore Botanic
Gardens (SING)
Su Gong Wu and Benito Ching Tan
153-164
13 Pteridophytic flora of Northern part of Bihar (India)
adjacent to Indo-Nepal border
Alka Kumari and Ranjit Bahadur Srivastava
165-175
MORPHOLOGY, ANATOMY AND CYTOLOGY
14 Studies on the Chinese Selaginellaceae-V: Observations
on the forliar epidermis of Selaginella Beauv. from
Hainan Island in China
Ping Yang and Xiang-Chung Zhang
177-184
15 Morphological observations on the co-occurring
geophytes Isoetes duriei Bory (Lycophyta, Isoetaceae)
and Romulea columnae Sebast. et Mauri (Anthophyta,
Iridaceae)
Angelo Troìa, Elisabetta Oddo, and Enrico Bellini
185-189
16 Cytomorphological studies on some Indian population
of Isoëtes coromandelina L. f.
Gopal Krishna Srivastava, Meena Rai, and Mrittunjai
Srivastava
191-203
17 Studies on the morpho-taxonomy of Indian vittarioid
ferns
Jnan Bikas Bhandari and Radhanath Mukhopadhyay
205-215
18 Morphological and cytological variations of Japanese
Dryopteris varia group (Dryopteridaceae)
Su-Juan Lin, Masahiro Kato, and Kunio Iwatsuki
217-231
ECOLOGY AND FLORISTICS
19 Environmentally related demography: field studies on
Isoëtes lacustris L. (Lycophyta, Isoëtaceae) in Europe
Margrit Vöge
233-260
20 The vertical distributions of live and dead fern spores in
the soil of a semi-natural woodland in Southeast
Scotland and their implications for spore movement in
the formation of soil spore banks
Luciano Maurico Esteves and Adrian Francis Dyer
261-282
x
21 Species richness of pteridophytes in natural versus
man-made lowland forest in Malaysia and Singapore
Farida Binti Yusuf, Benito Ching Tan, and Ian Mark
Turner
283-298
22 The taxonomy and ecology of the pteridophytes of Mt.
Iraya and vicinity, Batan Island, Batanes Province,
Northern Philippines
Julie Fenete Barcelona
299-325
23 Some aspects of the fern flora (Filicopsida) of the
Netherlands
Piet Bremer
327-340
24 Demographic studies of homosporous fern populations
in South Siberia
Irina Ivanovna Gureyeva
341-364
25 Eco-morphological characteristics of Pyrrosia petiolosa
(Christ et Baroni) Ching (Polypodiaceae) in the
primorye territory, in far-Eastern Russia
Nina Mihailovna Derzhavina
365-374
26 Herbivory on three tropical fern species of a Mexican
cloud forest
Klaus Mehltreter and Javier Tolome
375-381
27 Animal interaction with pteridophytes with emphasis
on Indian records
Subir Bera, Biplab Patra, and Narayan Ghorai
383-395
PHYTOREMEDIATION / ECONOMIC UTILITY
28 Tolerance of heavy metals in vascular plants: Arsenic
hyperaccumulation by Chinese brake fern (Pteris
vittata L.)
Bhaskar Rao Bondada and Lena Qiying Ma
397-420
29 Economically viable pteridophytes of India
Har Bhajan Singh
421-446
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY/TISSUE CULTURE
30 Gametophyte morphology and breeding systems in
ferns
Donald Ray Farrar
447-454
31 Some aspects of reproductive biology of the
gametophyte generation of homosporous ferns
Satish Chander Verma
455-484
32 Mating systems of Cyatheaceae native to Taiwan
Wen-Liang Chiou, Yao-Moan Huang and Pei-Hsuan
Lee
485-489
xi
33 Plantlet production of the Philippine Giant Staghorn
Fern [Platycerium grande (Fee) C. Presl] through spore
culture
Cecilia Beltran Amoroso and Victor Bucad Amoroso
491-495
34 Micropropagation and conservation of rare and
endangered ferns of the Southern Western Ghats
through in vitro culture
Visuvasam Soosai Manickam, Sambantham
Vallinayagam, and Marimuthu Johnson
497-504
PALEOBOTANY
35 Heterosporous water ferns from the late Cretaceous to
Neogene periods of India
Bharati Nandi and Saibal Chattopadhyay
505-520
xii
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Cecilia Beltran Amoroso (Chapter 33)
Co-authors: Victor Bucad Amoroso
Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
Central Mindanao University, 8710 Musuan, Bukidnon, Philippines
E. mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Victor Bucad Amoroso (Chapter 33)
Co-authors: Cecilia Beltran Amoroso
Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
Central Mindanao University, 8710 Musuan
Bukidnon, Philippines
E. mail: [email protected]
Tanoy Bandyopadhyay (Chapter 9)
Co-authors: Tuhinsri Sen and Uday Sen
Department of Botany, Kalyani University, Kalyani – 741 235, India
Julie Fenete Barcelona (Chapter 22)
Philippine National Herbarium (PNH), Botany Division
National Museum of the Philippines, Manila, C.P.O. 2659, Philippines
E. mail: [email protected]
Enrico Bellini (Chapter 15)
Co-authors: Angelo Troìa and Elisabetta Oddo
Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche dell’Università, via Archirafi 38
Palermo, Italy
Subir Bera (Chapter 27)
Co-authors: Biplab Patra and Narayan Ghorai
Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Calcutta – 700 019, India
E-mail: [email protected]
Jnan Bikas Bhandari (Chapter 17)
Co-author: Radhanath Mukhopadhyay
Pteridology laboratory, Department of Botany
The University of Burdwan, Burdwan – 713104, India
Bhaskar Rao Bondada (Chapter 28)
Co-author: Lena Qiying Ma
Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL32611-0290, USA
E. mail: [email protected]
xiii
Piet Bremer (Chapter 23)
Provincial Board of Overijssel, Luttenbergstraat 2
8011 EE Zwolle, The Netherlands
E. mail: [email protected]
Subhash Chandra (Chapter 1)
Pteridology Laboratory
National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow – 226 001, India
E. mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Saibal Chattopadhyay (Chapter 35)
Co-author: Bharati Nandi
Department of Botany, University of Kalyani
Kalyani – 741 235, India
Present corresponding address:
District Land & Land Reforms Office, Jiban Pal’s Garden
PO and Dist: Hooghly – 712123, India
E. mail: [email protected]
Xiao Cheng (Chapter 10)
Co-author: Jin Mei-Lu
Kunming Institute of Botany
Academia Sinica, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, P. R. China
E. mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Wen-Liang Chiou (Chapter 32)
Co-authors: Yao-Moan Huang and Pei-Hsuan Lee
Division of Forest Biology, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute
53 Nan-Hai Rd., Taipei 100, Taiwan
E. mail: [email protected]
Raymond Cranfill (Chapter 4)
Co-author: Masahiro Kato
University Herbarium, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Building,
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-2465, USA
E. mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Nina Mihailovna Derzhavina (Chapter 25)
Faculty of Botany, Orel State University, Bld. 95
Komsomolskaya, Orel, Russia
E. mаil: tb-d@mаil.ru
Shi-Yong Dong (Chapter 11)
Co-authors: Gang-Min Zhang, Xian-Chun Zhang and Shu-Gang Lu
Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing 100093, P.R. China
xiv
Adrian Francis Dyer (Chapter 20)
Co-author: Luciano Maurico Esteves
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row
Edinburgh EH3 5LR, Scotland, UK
E. mail: [email protected]
Luciano Mauricio Esteves (Chapter 20)
Co-author: Adrian Francis Dyer
Instituto de Botanica de Sao Paulo, Caixa Postal 4005
CEP 01061-970, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil
E. mail: [email protected]
Donald Ray Farrar (Chapter 30)
Department of Botany, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
E. mail: [email protected]
Narayan Ghorai (Chapter 27)
Co-authors: Subir Bera and Biplab Patra
Post Graduate Department of Zoology, Presidency College, Kolkata – 700 073, India
Irina Ivanovna Gureyeva (Chapter 24)
Krylov Herbarium, Tomsk State University,
Prospekt Lenina, 36, Tomsk 634050, Russia
E. mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Yao-Moan Huang (Chapter 32)
Co-authors: Wen-Liang Chiou and Pei-Hsuan Lee
Division of Forest Biology, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute
53 Nan-Hai Rd., Taipei 100, Taiwan
Kunio Iwatsuki (Chapter 18)
Co-authors: Su-Juan Lin and Masahiro Kato
The University of the Air, 2-11 Wakaba, Mihama-ku, Chiba 261-8586, Japan
E. mail: [email protected]
Marimuthu Johnson (Chapter 34)
Co-authors: Visuvasam Soosai Manickam and Sanbantham Vallinayagam,
Centre for Biodiversity and Biotechnology
St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai – 627 002, India
Masahiro Kato (Chapter 4 & 18)
Co-author: Raymond Cranfill (Chapter 4)
Co-authors: Su-Juan Linand Kunio Iwatsuki (Chapter 18)
Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science
University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
E. mail: [email protected]
xv
Alka Kumari (Chapter 13)
Co-author: Ranjit Bahadur Srivastava
Botany Department, M. S. College, Motihari, Bihar, India
E. mail: [email protected]
Pei-Hsuan Lee (Chapter 32)
Co-authors: Wen-Liang Chiou and Yao-Moan Huang
Division of Forest Biology, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute
53 Nan-Hai Rd., Taipei 100, Taiwan
Su-Juan Lin (Chapter 18)
Co-authors: Masahiro Kato and Kunio Iwatsuki
Department of Biological Science and Technology, School of Life Science
Nanjing University. 22 Hankou-lu, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, P.R. China
Present corresponding address:
C/O Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science
University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
E. mail: [email protected]
Shu-Gang Lu (Chapter 11)
Co-author: Gang-Min Zhang, Shi-Yong Dong, Xian-Chun Zhang
Department of Environmental Science, Yunnan University
Kunming 650091, P. R. China
Lena Qiying Ma (Chapter 28)
Co-author: Bhaskar Rao Bondada
Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL32611-0290, USA
E. mail: [email protected]
Visuvasam Soosai Manickam (Chapter 34)
Co-authors: Sambantham Vallinayagam and Marimuthu Johnson
Centre for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, St. Xavier's College (Autonomous)
Palayamkottai – 627 002, India
E. mail: [email protected]
Klaus Mehltreter (Chapter 26)
Co-author: Javier Tolome
Departamento Ecología Vegetal, Instituto de Ecología, A.C.
A. P. 63, Xalapa 91000, Veracruz, Mexico
E. mail: [email protected]
Jin Mei-Lu (Chapter 10)
Co-author: Xiao Cheng
Kunming Institute of Botany
Academia Sinica, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, P. R. China
xvi
Radhanath Mukhopadhyay (Chapter 17)
Co-author: Jnan Bikas Bhandari
Pteridology laboratory, Department of Botany
The University of Burdwan, Burdwan – 713104, India
E. mail: [email protected]
Bharati Nandi (Chapter 35)
Co-author: Saibal Chattopadhyay
Department of Botany, University of Kalyani
Kalyani – 741 235, India
E. mail: [email protected]
Elisabetta Oddo (Chapter 15)
Co-authors: Angelo Troìa and Enrico Bellini
Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche dell’Università, via Archirafi 38
Palermo, Italy
Gopinath Panigrahi (Chapter 3)
Botanical Survey of India
A13/3, Kalindi Housing Estate, Kolkata – 700 089, India
Email: [email protected]
Biplab Patra (Chapter 27)
Co-authors: Subir Bera and Narayan Ghorai
Department of Botany, Anandamohan College
Kolkata – 700 009, India
Meena Rai (Chapter 16)
Co-authors: Gopal Krishna Srivastava and Mrittunjai Srivastava
C. M. P. Degree College
Allhabad – 211 002, India
E. mail: [email protected]
Tadeus Reichstein (Chapter 7)
Co-author: Ronald Louis Leo Viane
Institute for Org. Chemistry, St. Johanns-Ring 19
CH-4056 Basle, Switzerland
Tuhinsri Sen (Chapter 9)
Co-authors: Tanoy Bandyopadhyay and Uday Sen
Department of Botany, Kalyani University, Kalyani – 741 235, India
Uday Sen (Chapter 9)
Co-authors: Tanoy Bandyopadhyay and Tuhinsri Sen
Department of Botany, Kalyani University
Kalyani – 741 235, India
xvii
Alexandr Ivanovich Shmakov (Chapter 5)
South-Siberian Botanical Garden
Altai State University
Barnaul 656099, Russia
E. mail: [email protected]
Har Bhajan Singh (Chapter 29)
Raw Materials Herbarium & Museum
National Institute of Science Communication
Dr. K. S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi – 110 012, India
E. mail: [email protected]
Gopal Krishna Srivastava (Chapter 16)
Co-authors: Meena Rai and Mrittunjai Srivastav
Botany Department, University of Allahabad
Allhabad – 211 002, India
Mrittunjai Srivastava (Chapter 2 & 16)
Co-authors: Gopal Krishna Srivastava and Meena Rai (Chapter 16)
Pteridology Laboratory, National Botanical Research Institute
Lucknow – 226 001, India
E. mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Ranjit Bahadur Srivastava (Chapter 13)
Co-author: Alka Kumari
Botany Department, M. S. College, Motihari, Bihar, India
E. mail: [email protected]
Lana da Silva Sylvestre (Chapter 8)
Co-author: Paulo Günter Windisch
Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ)
Departamento de Botânica. Seropédica, RJ. 23.871-970, Brazil
E. mail: [email protected]
Benito Ching Tan (Chapter 12 & 21)
Co-author: Su-Gong Wu (Chapter 12)
Co-authors: Farida binti Yusuf and Ian Mark Turner (Chapter 21)
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore
119260 Singapore
E. mail: [email protected]
Javier Tolome (Chapter 26)
Co-author: Klaus Mehltreter
Departamento Ecología Vegetal, Instituto de Ecología, A.C.
A. P. 63, Xalapa 91000, Veracruz, Mexico
xviii
Angelo Troìa (Chapter 15)
Co-authors: Elisabetta Oddo, and Enrico Bellini
Dipartimento di Scienze Botaniche dell’Università, via Archirafi 38
Palermo, Italy
E. mail: [email protected]
Ian Mark Turner (Chapter 21)
Co-authors: Farida binti Yusuf and Benito Ching Tan
National Parks Board,
Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road
259569 Singapore
Sambantham Vallinayagam (Chapter 34)
Co-authors: Visuvasam Soosai Manickam and Marimuthu Johnson
Centre for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, St.
Xavier's College (Autonomous)
Palayamkottai – 627 002, India
Satish Chander Verma (Chapter 31)
Department of Botany, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India
Present corresponding address:
5452/1, CAT-2, Modern Complex, Manimajra
Chandigarh – 160 101, India
E mail: [email protected]
Ronald Louis Leo Viane (Chapter 7)
Co-author: Tadeus Reichstein
Ghent University, Dept. of Biology, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35
B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
E. mail: [email protected]
Margrit Vöge (Chapter 19)
22117 Hamburg, Pergamentweg 44b, Germany
E. mail: [email protected]
Paulo Günter Windisch (Chapter 8)
Co-author: Lana da Silva Sylvestre
Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS)
Centro de Ciências da Saúde. Laboratório de Botânica
Av. Unisinos 950, São Leopoldo, RS. 93.022-000, Brazil
E. mail: [email protected]
Su-Gong Wu (Chapter 12)
Co-author: and Benito Ching Tan
Kunming Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kunming 650091, P. R. China
E. mail: [email protected]
xix
Ping Yang (Chapter 14)
Co-author: Xian-Chun Zhang
College of Life Science, Henan Normal University, P.R. China
Farida Binti Yusuf (Chapter 21)
Co-authors: Benito Ching Tan and Ian Mark Turner
Cryptogam Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences
The National University of Singapore 119260, Singapore
Xian-Chun Zhang (Chapter 6, 11 & 14)
Co-authors: Gang-Min Zhang, Shi-Yong Dong, and Shu-Gang Lu (Chapter 11)
Co-author: Ping Yang (Chapter 14)
Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing 100093, P. R. China
E. mail: [email protected]
Gang-Min Zhang (Chapter 11)
Co-authors: Shi-Yong Dong, Xian-Chun Zhang and Shu-Gang Lu
Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing 100093, P.R. China
E. mail: [email protected]
xx
FOREWORD
The National Botanical Research Institute came into being as the 13th among a
chain of National Laboratories established during April, 1953 under the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research by the Govt. of India for advanced research in
fields of specialisation which have a direct bearing on socio-economic, industrial
and scientific advancement of the nation. Christened initially as National Botanic
Gardens, the nucleus around which the institution took shape under its founder-
Director Late Prof. K. N. Kaul, was a large herbarium of Indian flora and a century-
old botanical garden spread over 35 ha of land on the banks of River Gomti in the
heart of Lucknow city.
It’s a matter of great pleasure and profound satisfaction to me that a Golden
Jubilee volume entitled, “Pteridology in the New Millennium” is being published
and released during the Golden Jubilee year of NBRI in the honour of Professor
B. K. Nayar who laid the foundation of the Pteridology Laboratory of the NBRI,
which is now a well equipped laboratory for the study of Indian pteridophytes.
Professor Nayar is a holistic Botanist as evident through his contributions and
publications in almost all the areas of study of Pteridophyta. The contribution of
Professor Nayar towards the development of modern Pteridology and the role of
NBRI in it is indeed great and very important. His publications will be valuable for
the younger generation of scientists in the field as well as for the more mature
research workers and teachers.
The editors deserve to be commended on their initiative in bringing out NBRI
Golden Jubilee volume. This publication will go a long way in helping the scientific
community of the world.
P. Pushpangadan
Director, NBRI, Lucknow (India)
July 15, 2002
xxi
EDITORS’ NOTE
On the eve of the Golden Jubilee year of National Botanical Research Institute,
Lucknow, we have much pleasure in presenting this commemoration volume in the
honour of Prof. B.K. Nayar, Ex-Head of Botany Department, Calicut University,
Kerala who is the founder of Pteridology Division of NBRI, Lucknow. It was due to
the untiring efforts and dedication of Prof. Nayar during his tenure as head of
Pteridology Division of NBRI, that it has become a center for research in
pteridology in the world and established its lofty traditions. It goes to the credit of
Prof. Nayar that those who were trained by him and who succeeded him kept up the
traditions and even enhanced them so that today the NBRI is well recognized as the
foremost center of pteridological research in this country.
Besides being a good scientist, Prof. Nayar is a great teacher, a social worker
and a good humanist. A sincere and painstaking guide of the research scholars who
had the privilege of working under his guidance and one who would go to any
extent to help them, it is but natural that he won their respect, affection and
confidence in abundance. Prof. Nayar is a thorough gentleman and one who is ever
ready to help, and full of affection goodwill and sympathy for his colleagues.
Prof. Nayar has devoted an entire lifetime to research work in pteridology and
has made many significant contributions in diverse lines of investigations on
pteridophytes during his long research career beginning with the time when he
worked as a Lecturer in Botany at Gauhati University (1951-1955). His research
activity reached its peak at NBRI, Lucknow where he was Head of the Pteridology
Division (1955-1970). And it continued at University of Calicut where he was
Professor and Head of the Department of Botany (1970-1987) and finally Emeritus
Professor (1987-1993). Prof. Nayar established two thriving Schools of Pteridology,
one at NBRI and the other at Calicut University, and both continue to contribute
actively to the different lines of research initiated by him while proliferating into
several others.
This book commemorates Prof. B.K. Nayar’s contribution to the advancement
of Pteridology and is presented as our humble homage in his honour. Many
prestigious learned bodies and organizations have earlier honoured Prof. Nayar,
including the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (India) and he is a
Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Linnaean Society of London, Indian Fern
Society and Palynological Society of India. In comparison, this commemoration
volume is only a trivial tribute to him. The list of well-known contributors to this
volume is indicative of the respect he commands from fellow pteridologists from all
over the world, and the affection from his colleagues and academic associates in the
country. The wide spectrum of the contributions is a rich tribute to his great repute
in the field of pteridology.
We would like to express here our deep regards for this great scientist, who is
our trusted friend and well-wisher and congratulate him for the international stature
he has earned by his rich contributions to the vast expanding knowledge of
pteridological science in the world.
xxiii
The senior editor (SC) has been associated with Prof. B. K. Nayar ever since his
joining the Pteridology Laboratory of NBRI in 1963 and is deeply indebted to him
for motivating and inducting him to pteridological research; it is Prof. Nayar’s
continuous encouragement, sincere advice, help and co-operation that earned for the
senior editor his present standing in pteridology which gave him the courage to
undertake the present task and make this Golden Jubilee Volume possible.
We thankfully acknowledge the co-operation extended to us by the eminent
pteridologists who have contributed different chapters to this book, each one of
which has greatly enhanced its worth. We wish to extend our humble and warmest
thanks to the Director, NBRI, Lucknow, without whose continued encouragement
and blessing, this work would not have been possible. We are deeply indebted to
the members of the Editorial Advisory Committee and the learned reviewers for
their valuable suggestions, kind co-operation and encouragement during the
preparation of this volume. Special sincere thanks are also due to Dr. Xian-Chun
Zhang (Beijing, China) and Dr. S. N. Srivastava (Allahabad, India) for all the help,
co-operation and encouragement they have extended to us. We wish to record here
our sincere appreciation of the ungrudging help rendered by our colleagues Dr. P.
B. Khare, Dr. R. D. Tripathi, Mr. Sandip Behra, Mr. Manoj Kumar Srivastava, Mr.
Amitosh Verma and Mr. Shyam Babu during the preparation of this volume. Busy
scientists as they are, Prof. P. G. Windisch (Brazil), Prof. H. P. Nooteboom (The
Netherlands), Prof. Su Gong Wu (China) and Prof. S. S. Bir (India) has found time
at our request to write Prefaces to this book, and Dr. P. Pushpangadan the
Foreword, and it is a pleasure for us to record here our gratitude to each of them.
We are extremely thankful to Ms. Zuzana Bernhart Ing., Publishing Editor of
Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands for all the help she has rendered in
the publication of this volume in its present form and to Ms. Amber Tanghe-Neely
(Dordrecht, The Netherlands) for her editorial comments and suggestions for
improvement, which proved invaluable to us. We are also indebted to Mr. Dilip
Kumar Chakraborty (Lucknow, India) for the preparation of camera-ready
manuscripts for the press.
In editing this volume we have made an attempt to highlight the current
significance some of the emerging fields of pteridological research. We sincerely
hope that pteridologists will welcome this volume as a worthy treatise on
pteridology in the new millennium.
Subhash Chandra
Mrittunjai Srivastava
Pteridology Division, NBRI, Lucknow
xxiv
PREFACE I
NBRI, National Botanical Research Institute (originally known as National Botanic
gardens till October 1978) located at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh was established in
April 1953. After fifty years of its existence, the NBRI is celebrating its Golden
Jubilee with activities spanning over one year (2002-2003).
Amongst the centers of active research in Pteridology in India the NBRI group
played a significant role. The credit for initiating this goes to the broad vision of
Prof. K.N. Kaul, the founder director of the institute who created the Division of
Cryptogamic Botany and appointed Prof. B. K. Nayar (previously at Gauhati
University, Assam) as scientist in charge, in 1955. Soon, a well-equipped laboratory
was established for the study of Indian Pteridophytic flora especially covering the
aspects of their taxonomy, nomenclature, anatomy, morphology, palynology, etc.
Cultivation of ferns and fern allies received special attention; with the result that
today NBRI has the best sanctuary of Pteridophytic flora of India in the country.
The credit goes to the leadership of Prof. Nayar (who was at NBRI till 1970).
Devoted work of Prof. Nayar and subsequent scientists in charge of the section as
Dr. Surjit Kaur and Dr. Subhash Chandra together with their colleagues resulted in
high academic output from the Pteridology Laboratory. This has been possible only
due to the farsighted and encouraging approach of the various Directors of NBRI
who headed the institute from time to time after Prof. Kaul. I will not detail out the
research activities of especially Prof. Nayar, the person who headed the section, and
Pteridologists at NBRI during 50 years of institute’s existence and provided
leadership, since separate write-ups on Pteridology Division of NBRI and Bio-data
and Research Contributions of Prof. Nayar are given elsewhere in this book.
I join the scientists of the institute, especially the present Director, in felicitating
Prof. Nayar for setting fair traditions of devoted and high quality research, which
brought laurels to the institute. Here, scientists are presently involved in multifarious
activities in researches in plant sciences with attainments of high quality. NBRI has
emerged as a jewel amongst the plant based research institutes in the country.
The present volume, which contains papers covering wide spectrum of various
aspects of Pteridology from prominent scientists of the world is intended to be Prof.
B. K. Nayar Commemoration Volume in recognition of his highly meritorious
research in Pteridology. He made valuable additions to the existing knowledge
about this interesting group of plants. I have also been engaged in India in the study
of various aspects of ferns and fern allies for over 5 decades now. This is an added
reason that I hold Prof. Nayar in high esteem for his scholastic contributions on
ferns. Also, I have always valued his friendship.
I heartily felicitate Prof. Nayar on his 75th
birth anniversary and it is my good
fortune to be associated with this auspicious occasion in the form of this write-up.
S.S. Bir
Punjabi University, Patiala, India
August 2, 2002
xxv
PREFACE II
My first contact with Prof. Bala Krishnan Nayar occurred in an indirect way, back
in 1971. As an apprentice to the Brazilian pteridologist Alexander Brade, one of the
tasks assigned to me was to study the then recently published paper by Prof. Nayar
(in Taxon), on a new classification of leptosporangiate ferns. I started reading it to
Prof. Brade, whose eyesight was quite impaired due to age. As I went on reading, a
series of "oh, yes", affirmative shakes of the head and his final emphatic statement
"the man is quite right!!!" got my attention to the author of that particular
publication, a landmark in taxonomic history. Since then, publications by Prof.
Nayar and his students were of primary interest and respect for me. My discussions
with late Prof. Karl Kramer, on the significance of Prof. Nayar’s work in the
upsurge of pteridology in India and its wide reaching influence the world over,
always elicited a very positive response.
It is a delicate task to present a foreword to this assemblage of contributions
reflecting the state of Pteridology at the beginning of this new millennium,
presented to honour Prof. Nayar. The chapters are related to the diverse fields of his
interest, which owe much to him, through the more than 200 research papers he
published in addition to several monographs on Indian Ferns, as well as books on
nomenclature and fern floras. Among Prof. Nayar's major contributions to
pteridology are his study of the spores of ca. 3500 taxa of pteridophytes, and study
and analysis of the morphology and development of the gametophytic generation of
more than 2000 taxa, each of which constitutes by itself a Herculean task well
carried out. Bringing all this information into a general evolutive framework, and
reinterpreting diverse morphologic and phylogenetic concepts as he has done
requires far more than perseverance and hard work. It calls for a brilliant and
dedicated mind, and an enormous appreciation and love for the ferns. His
dedication to pteridology gave us new perspectives on the phylogeny of ferns, and a
wealth of information on their richness, structure, biology and importance to
mankind. His in-depth knowledge of the structure of vascular plants, associated
with his interest in evolution, taxonomy, floristics, palynology, spore germination,
gametophyte morphology and development, brought a holistic approach to his
discussions and interpretations. His well-substantiated treatise on evolution of
primitive vascular plants and their cormophytic plant body has a far-reaching
impact on this challenging subject.
Born in 1927, he began his career (in 1950) as a lecturer at Gauhati University
(Assam), where the wealth and diversity of the fern flora kindled in him a passion
for pteridology, which was to last for ever. His establishing and leading the
Pteridology Division (1955-1970) at the National Botanical Research Institute
brought a landmark to Science in India and advancement of pteridology in the
world. In his research endeavors at NBRI he was very ably assisted by Dr. Prakash
Chandra, Dr. Surjit Kaur, and Dr. Subhash Chandra among others, and each of them
made significant contributions following his footsteps. The devotion and hard work
of Prof. Nayar and his followers made the Pteridology Division the largest and most
xxvii
productive research center in the world devoted to ferns and allied plants, with over
400 research papers, 4 books and 25 monographs produced so far. In 1970 Prof.
Nayar joined the University of Calicut as the first Professor and Head of the Botany
Department, bringing his scholarship, excellence in research and organizational
experience to this new Institution and to the associated Botanical Garden, which he
got established. He retired in 1987, but continued for another five years guiding
students and research projects in the University. Many students got inspired by him
to follow the paths his pioneering steps marked in pteridological research.
Even with its rich contents, the present book is only a very small homage to
Prof. Nayar's extensive work. His studies on the spores and gametophytes, inspired
extensive studies on gametophyte morphology and breeding systems as well as
spore banks in Europe, the production of Platycerium grande plantlets through
spore culture, researches on reproductive biology and mating systems. His
contributions to floristics and taxonomy are reflected in such publications as
Sinopteridaceae and Tectariaceae of Hainan, Valuable and Noteworthy Chinese
Ferns, Aspleniaceae in Brazil and Western Asia, and A Synopsis of Woodsiaceae of
Eurasia, and studies on the Indian vittarioid ferns as well as of the Dryopteris varia
and the Dryopteris sinofibrillosa complexes. His conservationist concerns are
reflected in the chapters on the Pteridophyte Preservation Areas in the Philippines,
and The Concept of Conservation Through Micropropagation. His interest in
ecological studies makes itself strongly felt through the contributions on the
application of ferns in phytoremediation of contaminated sites, establishment and
ecology of ferns in the Netherlands, demographic studies in South Siberia, animal
interactions and herbivory, and the impact of the alteration of tropical rain forests in
the fern flora. Prof. Nayar's pioneer landmark in modern fern phylogeny has greatly
influenced the new classification of the Woodwardioid ferns for the twenty first
century.
The wide range of topics and geographic origin of the contributed chapters
included in this commemoration volume bear witness to the far-reaching impact of
Prof. Nayar's research activities, as well as to the achievements of the Pteridology
Division at National Botanical Research Institute for which science and
pteridologists all over the world will always be grateful.
Prof. Paulo G. Windisch
Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos - UNISINOS
Brazil
May 2, 2002
xxviii
PREFACE III
The contribution of Prof. B. K. Nayar in the advancement of modern pteridology and
in establishing a very productive school of research for the subject in NBRI as well as
at Calicut University is very great and important indeed. Throughout the world he is
well known as an accomplished and holistic botanist through his research contributions
and wealth of publications. Due to his untiring efforts and deep dedication, the
Pteridology Division of NBRI, which he founded and got established, earned a coveted
reputation as a center of excellence in research. Even after he left NBRI in 1970 to join
as Professor & Head of the Botany Department of Calicut University, the strong
traditions which he established and the pteridologists he trained kept high the
excellence and even enhanced it so that the Pteridology Laboratory continued to be
well known as an active center of pteridological research in India. In addition to his
superb organizational capabilities, as evidenced by the excellence of the two schools of
pteridology which he got established at NBRI and at Calicut University, Prof. Nayar is
an eminent scientist of international stature and admired and respected by
contemporary botanists the world over for his rich and lasting contributions to the vast
expanding knowledge of pteridological science in the world. As a teacher he is well
respected and loved by his students, and it goes to his credit that many among them
have in later years established themselves as eminent pteridologists following his
footsteps. This Golden Jubilee Volume, published in his honour, is in itself a testimony
to the love and respect he commands from his students and fellow scientists.
Prof. Nayar’s work has received international acclaim. He has made extensive
contributions to diverse fields of investigations on the pteridophytes. “THE
PHYLLORIZE THEORY”, which he developed and elaborated based on his studies on
the gametophytic as well as sporophytic generations of ferns, could as well prove to be a
turning point in our understanding of evolution of all vascular plants. The evidences he
provides from morphology of extant pteridophytes, especially their gametophytes and
ontogeny of vascular system, to support his hypothesis is quite convincing, and in
contrast to earlier treatises on the subject, totally obviates the need for conjectures of
hypothetical life forms. His theory visualized the successive steps in evolution of
vascular plants from thalloid non-vascular ancestors, in place of the Axial Theory and
the Stelar Theory, which dominated taxonomy and morphology. If universally accepted
this must prove to be a milestone in pteridological research. Special mention may be
made here also of his comprehensive review on the gametophyte of homosporous ferns,
a new phylogenetic classification of ferns, his books on nomenclature of Indian ferns
and on the fern flora of Malabar.
In this context it is very apt that this Golden Jubilee Volume entitled “Pteridology
in the new Millennium”, is published to honour Prof. Nayar and the extensive
contributions he has made to pteridology.
Dr. Hans P. Nooteboom
National Herbarium of the Netherlands, Leiden
May 27, 2002
xxix
PREFACE IV
Professor B. K. Nayar is one of the most eminent pioneers in research studies on
Pteridophyta. I came to know him and his extensive contributions quite late in life,
because it was only after the “Cultural Revolution” of China that I started my study
(in the 1970’s) of the Tibetan Pteridophyta to compile the Pteridophyta part in the
Flora of Xizangica (Tibet) under the direction of Prof. Ching Renchang. Prof.
Ching, the doyen of Chinese pteridology, then told me that in any study of
pteridophytes of Tibet, the work of Indian Pteridologists, especially of Prof. B. K.
Nayar and Prof. S. S. Bir, is very important and must be referred to without fail.
Soon I realized that the book by B. K. Nayar and S. Kaur, “Companion to R. H.
Beddome’s Handbook to the Ferns of British India”, was an unavoidable reference
for my work, as also the many monographs published by them on Indian fern
genera. Later, the elucidation of fern phylogeny contained in a large number of
publications of Prof. Nayar, particularly in the “New phylogenetic classification of
ferns” (in Taxon) and the many supplementary papers, which followed, proved to
be of invaluable help. Without the extensive contributions of contemporary Indian
researchers like Prof. Nayar on the taxonomy and nomenclature of Indian
pteridophytes, the Pteridophyta part of the Flora of Xizangica (Tibet) would not
have been possible.
By then I began to collect and read the vast wealth of papers written by Indian
Pteridologists. It was difficult to get them in China and there was little contact
between the scholars of the two countries, but eminent Indian pteridologists like
Prof. Nayar had close contact with Prof. Ching and this helped. Prof. Nayar’s
publications constituted the bulk of my collection, even though his contributions
covered very many aspects of pteridology other than systematic taxonomy. Perhaps
the most important work of his is the study on the gametophytes of ferns and the
morphology of spores, the taxonomic and phylogenetic implications of which he
amply demonstrated. The review published by Prof. Nayar and Dr. S. Kaur on
“Gametophytes of Homosporous Ferns” is a classical work, which for the first time
unambiguously brought out the significance of gametophyte morphology in studies
on taxonomy and evolution. Similarly, the PHYLLORHIZE THEORY put forward
by Prof. Nayar, based on his extensive study of gametophytes as well as
sporophytes including ontogeny of their vascular system, may prove to be the most
important contribution to pteridology during the last century. If Prof. Nayar’s
hypothesis of origin and evolution of the characteristic plant body of vascular plants
proves to be true, it could revolutionize the study of phylogenetic taxonomy, not
only of the pteridophytes but also of the flowering plants. Let us look forward to his
students continuing the study initiated by him and revolutionize the science of
pteridology in the new millennium. It is my regret that I have had no chance to meet
him and study from him. However, I am lucky to have met his contemporary, Prof.
S. S. Bir, with whom I had long discussions on Indian contributions to pteridology
and who have helped me to understand the extensive Indian work on the subject.
xxxi
Just as India, China is a vast country with a very rich pteridophyte flora, which
is the richest in East Asia and perhaps in the world, and both have, in the last
millennium, produced such stalwarts in pteridology like Prof. B. K. Nayar and Prof.
R. C. Ching. According to “Flora of China” published towards the end of last
century, there are 215 genera and 2535 species of pteridophytes in China. But many
problems of species concepts, nomenclature and phylogeny still persist. The
situation is perhaps better in India, through the effort of eminent pteridologists like
Prof. Nayar, and the prospects seem brighter because of his equally eminent
students like Dr. S. Chandra and Dr. P. V. Madhusoodanan who continue the work.
China and India have much in common in diversity of natural environment and of
floristic wealth especially of pteridophytes. In co-operation, the botanists of the two
countries could make significant and substantial contributions to Pteridology in the
New Millennium on the basis of the work of pioneers like Prof. Nayar and Prof.
Ching who have carved for themselves pre-eminent positions among pteridologists
of the world.
Su Gong Wu
Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming,
Yunnan, 650204, China
June 5, 2002
xxxii