ORCHID FLORA OF THE NORTH WESTERN HIMALAYAS

4. Rare Plant Collection of India Needs New Curator
www.somdeva.com

DELHI, INDIA, June 12, 2006: HPI received the following plea from Vivek Sharma regarding an extraordinary herbarium (collection of dried plants) accumulated by his father over many years:

"My father Professor Som Deva passed away last year leaving behind a lasting legacy of his phenomenal work on the Orchid Flora of the North Western Himalayas and his personal herbarium including his hand drawn diagrams on orchids, bamboos and grasses. His herbarium is a monumental life work. Curated and maintained single handedly by Prof. Som Deva for more than four decades, this Herbarium houses more than 20,000 specimens of Angiosperms from north India covering the Upper Gangetic Plains, Shivaliks, Chakrata Hills and various parts of Greater Himalaya. Perhaps it is one of the largest private collections of flowering plants in the country. The specimens have been largely collected by Prof. Deva himself (Field Numbers 11,343) and his students. The specimens have been neatly affixed and labeled indigenously on newspapers which have been kept under the standard Genus and Family folders. The arrangement follows Bentham & Hooker's System of Classification. Under each Family of Angiosperms there are elaborate notes on the number of genera and species within various phytogeographic regions within India and neighboring countries. Each specimen bears a collection number and an index number. The index number has been drawn from Sir J.D. Hooker's Flora of British India (FBI). For example, the sheet bearing Crotalaria mysorensis has been numbered as 50.8.21. This indicates Family No. 50 (Leguminosae), Genus no. 8 (Crotalaria) and species no. 21 given in FBI. Using this index one can easily find the reference of the species in FBI. We are looking for a suitable place where his work can be put to good use by lovers of botany, students and researchers. In case any one may be interested please let me know and we can decide how to proceed. For more details please click URL above."

To speak directly with Vivek, call: 91-11-26091061, 91-11-29960976 or cells: 91-09891342156, 09313354501



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