Flora, Revision and Monograph

This presentation was given by Dr. Avishek Bhattacharjee in Botanical Nomenclature Course held in Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong in November 2016. This may be helpful to the undergraduate and post graduate Botany students to understand different types of taxonomic literature, especially Flora, Revision and Monograph.

1. FLORA, REVISION AND
MONOGRAPH
AVISHEK BHATTACHARJEE
Central National Herbarium
Botanical Survey of India
Howrah –711 103.
Email: [email protected]

2. Variousformsoftaxonomicliteratureincorporatingdescription,illustrations,identification
keys,photographsetc.areusefulforproperidentificationofunknownplants.Someofthese
areamongtheoldestandmostcomplicatedliteraturesofscience.
‘Shen-nungpents'aoching’(DivineHusbandman'sMateria
Medica),i.e.theMateriaMedicaofthemythicalemperor,Shen-
nung[c.2696BC]ofChina.
Theophrastus[370–285BC],the‘FatherofBotany’,wasa
studentofAristotleandPlaton.Hewroteaclassificationofallknown
plantsinhis‘DeHistoriaPlantarum’,whichcontained480species.
PedaniusDiocorides[c.40–90AD],
theGreekphysician,pharmacologist
andbotanistinhis‘DeMateria
Medica’,describedabout600species
ofmedicinalplants.
Some pre-Linnean
literature

3. ‘Colóquiosdossimplesedrogashecousas
medicinaisdaÍndia’waspublishedon10April
1563(inGoa)byGarciadeOrta,aPortuguese
Jewishphysicianandnaturalist,apioneerof
tropicalmedicine.
HendrikAdriaanvanRheedetotDrakenstein
orVanRheede[1636–1691],thethenDutch
GovernorofMalabar,published‘Hortus
Malabaricus’(1678–1703)in12-volumes
describing740plantsoftheregion.
Charak,thegreatIndianmedicine
manasbackasin125AD,
describedseveralplants(more
than500)inhisbook-‘Charak
Samhita’.
‘ThesaurusZeylanicus’isabookwith
botanicaldescriptionsandillustrations
by the Dutch
botanistandphysicianJohannes
Burmanwhichwaspublishedin1737.
Oneoftheearliestauthorswas
AndreaCaesalpino[1519–
1603]inItaly,whoissometimes
called"thefirsttaxonomist".In
1583hewrote‘DePlantis’,a
workthatcontained1500
species.
Joseph Pitton de
Tournefort [1656–1708]
constructedabotanical
classificationthatcameto
ruleinbotanicaltaxonomy
untilthetimeofCarl
Linnaeus.In1700he
published‘InstitutionesRei
Herbariae’,inwhicharound
9000specieswerelistedin
698genera.Heisknownas
the‘Fatherofgenus
concept’.

4. Some Linneanand post-Linnean
literature
Linnaeus published
‘SpeciesPlantarum’,the
workwhichisnow
internationallyacceptedas
thestartingpoint(1753)of
modern botanical
nomenclature.Thebook
containsaccountofover
7,300species.
‘FloraLapponica’isanaccountoftheplantsofLapland
writtenbyCarolusLinnæus[1107–1778]–‘TheFatherof
Taxonomy’.
George Bentham
[1800–1884] wrote
‘FloraHongkongensis’
(1861), ‘Flora
Australiensis’(1863–
1878),‘Revisionofthe
genusCassia’(1871)
etc.
WilliamRoxburgh[1751–1815],consideredasthe‘FatherofIndian
Botany’published‘PlantsoftheCoastofCoromandel’(1795–
1820),‘HortusBengalensis’(1814).Roxburgh’s‘FloraIndica’was
posthumouslypublishedfirstin2volumes(1820–1824)andlaterin3
volumes(1832)withabout2600species.

5. Published in 7 volumes
(1875–1897)
c. 15,900 species of
Flowering plants

6. Flora:Inventoryofplantsofadefinedgeographicalregion.
Revision:Exhaustivetaxonomicaccountofataxon/taxa;usuallythe
scopeisnotworldwidelikethatofamonograph.
Monograph:Comprehensivetaxonomicaccountofaparticular
taxon/taxawithworldwidescope.
Flora,revisionandmonographarethreemajorformsoftaxonomicliteratureon
whichstudyandresearchonplant-taxonomyarehighlybased.Thesearenotonly
essentialforproperidentificationofplants,butalsohelpfultounderstandand
conservethebiodiversity.

7. District/State/UnionTerritory/GeographicalorPhytogeographicalregion/
Biodiversityrichregion/Protectedarea/Fragileecosystem/Wetlandsetc.
Flora: Inventory of plants of a defined geographical region.
ThemostimportantpartbeforeinitiatingworkforaFloraistoselectthe
appropriateareaofstudywhichdeterminesthescopeandvalueoftheFlora.
Within a country:

8. National Flora: Flora of an entire country
Continental Flora: Flora of a continent

9. Special Flora: Flora of particular taxon/ taxa group(s)/ of plants
e-Flora: Available online

10. Survey and collection of the plants from the study area.
Identify the species collected from the study area.
Describe the identified species.
Preparation of a detailed account of the plants found in the study area based on
own collections, consultation of herbaria and study of relevant literature.
Preparation of a comprehensive list of economically as well as medicinally
important species/taxa for their conservation and sustainable utilization.
Evaluation of threatened/near threatened plant species of the area.
Study of biotic interferences on plant diversity of the study area.
Objective
s

11. Some guidelines to write a standard Flora
Areaofstudyshouldbeselectedcarefully.
Briefaccountofplantsshouldbeprovidedaccordingtotheirtaxonomichierarchy(eg.
speciesundertheirrespectivegenera,generaundertheirrespectivefamilies,families
undertheirrespectiveorder,ordersundertheirrespectivesubclasses,classes).
Taxamaybearrangedeitheraccordingtoastandardsystemofclassification(highly
preferred)oralphabetically(lesspreferred).
Identificationtools(keys)maybeprovided.
Citationofacceptednames,basionyms,synonyms,etymologymaybeprovided.
Vernacularnamesmaybeprovided.
Briefdescriptionsshouldbeprovided.
Illustrationsandphotographsshouldbeprovidedforeasyidentification.
Phenologyshouldbeprovided.
Precisedistributionshouldbementioned.
Voucherspecimensshouldbementioned.

12. Flora

13. Key to the genera
citation of genus
citation of species
(accepted name)
basionym
description
phenology habitat
specimen examined
distribution
etymology
Vernacular name
synonym

14. What is difference between ‘flora’ and ‘Flora’?
flora = vegetation
Flora = book/publication
The flora of Eastern Himalaya is highly rich.
The‘FloraofthePresidencyofBombay’is
writtenbyTheodoreCooke.

15. Revision:Anovelanalysisofthevariationpatternswithinaparticulartaxon,consideredin
conjunctionwithinformationfromtheliterature,whichresultsinthegenerationofprimaryand
secondaryproducts.Theprimaryproductisanovelclassificationofthetaxonandis
complementedbyarangeofsecondaryproductssuchaskeys,synonymisedlists,taxon
illustrations,criticalnotesetc.
Particular taxon
Collation of morphological and geographic data, possibly from
a particular area.
Area of study (minimum): A country/ phytogeographicregion
Expected components:
Discussion on classification/systematic position
Review of literature
Key(s)
Correct citations of accepted names, basionyms, synonyms
Citation of types of all correct names and synonyms
Typifications/nomenclatural corrections
Vernacular names (if any)
Detailed descriptions considering complete range of variation
Illustrations/plate/photographs
Phenology
Habitat/Ecology
Distribution within study area and in world
Uses (if any)
Etymology
Other relevant data (cytology, palynology, pollination biology, molecular study etc.)
Specimens examined
Notes

16. Mainobjectivesofa
Revision:
Preparing an up-to-date taxonomic account of a taxon to aid in:
(a)Specimen/taxon identification, comparison
(b) Retrieval of general information about the taxon
(c) Exploring scope of sustainable utilization
(d) Assessing the present status of members of taxon in the field and to propose
effective
conservation measures.
(e) Providing a foundation to other related fields of Life sciences.

17. SometimesthegeographicalscopeofaRevision
maybeworldwide,butinthatcaseitlackssome
otherinformation(datafromotherfields),i.e.itis
notanultimatecomprehensiveaccountlikethat
ofaMonograph.

18. Consultation of Herbaria: Very essential for a Revision
Effortshouldbegiventoconsultmaximumnumberofspecimensdepositedin
differentherbarialocatedatdifferentpartsoftheworld.
Identification
Characterization
Range of variation
Phenology (flowering and/or fruiting)
Distribution
Elevation
Temporary characters
Tracing of original material

19. Collectionoflive-specimen:Sometaxamayberepresentedbyverylimitednumberof
specimensandinmanycasessomespecimensmaybewithoutflowers,orinaveryfragile
condition.Thus,effortsshouldbemadetocollectlive-specimensfordetailedstudy.Priorto
undertakingthefieldtours,thepossiblelocalityandphenologyofthetaxashouldbenoted
fromthepublishedliteratureandfromthefielddataavailableontheherbariumsheets(already
depositedatdifferentherbaria).

20. Dissection and study of different parts (especially reproductive
parts )

21. Understanding the circumscription and variation:

22. glabrous
with simple hairs
with glandular hairs
Variations in Z. nervosa

23. C. herbacea
C. yuksomnensis
Same or different?

24. C. herbaceaand C. yuksomensisare different species

25. Sweeping hairs
Style branch
Stigmatic surface

26. Basic knowledge on Botanical Latin is necessary
Stearn, W.T. 1983. Botanical Latin
(ed. 3). David & Charles Inc., USA.

27. Revision
*Afterpreliminaryknowledgeondistribution
andphenologybystudyingliteratureand
someherbariumspecimens

29. GoodyerinaeRidl.
SubtribeGoodyerinaeKlotzsch
J.F.Klotzschintheyear1846establishedthesubdivision
Goodyereae,butthefirsttreatmentofthisgroupasasubtribewas
providedbyH.N.Ridley(1907)in‘MaterialsforaFloraofthe
MalayanPeninsula,PartI’.
Citations must be accurate
….
So,verifyeachcitationpersonally….
Don’tdependstronglyonpublished
literature(exceptprotologues)

33. Monograph:Comprehensivetaxonomicaccount(includingdatafrom
relatedfields)ofataxonwithworldwidegeographicalscope.Itcontainsall
informationofataxoninasinglepublication.
Similar to Revision but more exhaustive in the following features –
Number of species/taxa (all members of the world belonging to that
taxon/taxa)
Review of literature (worldwide)
Synonyms (complete synonymy)
Specimens examined/herbaria consulted
Information from allied fields

34. Manual:Amanualisamoreexhaustive
treatmentthantheflora,alwayshavingkeys
foridentification,descriptionbutgenerally
coveringspecializedgroupsofplants.
ManualofCultivatedPlants–L.H.Bailey
(1949)
ManualofAquaticPlants–N.C.Fassett
(1957)
Conspectus:Aconspectusisaneffective
outline of a comprehensive
work/revisionlistingallthetaxa,withall
ormajorsynonyms,withorwithoutshort
diagnosisandwithbriefmentionofthe
geographicalrange.
Species Plantarum–C. Linnaeus (1753)

35. Journal:Ataxonomicjournalprovides
informationontheresultsofon-going
researchandispublishedatregularintervals.
Abstract and bibliography:
Abstractprovidesasummaryof
variousarticlespublishedinvarious
journalsthroughouttheworld.
Bibliographyisalistofnamesof
publicationofbooksandscientific
literatureonspecifictopicsduringa
specificperiod.

36. Checklist:Listofplants(oftenwithinformationondistributionbutlacking
description/diagnosisandotherdetails)ofanarea/region;sometimesdealingwith
particulargroupofplants.
World/Global checklist

37. BotanicalDictionary:Abotanicaldictionary
mayincludeslistsofallknowngenera/taxa
(sometimeswithbriefinformationondistribution)
ofcertainplantgroup.
ADictionaryoftheFloweringPlantsand
Ferns–J.C.Willis(1973)
ADictionaryofEconomicProductsofIndia–
G.Watt(1889-1896)
Mabberley’sPlantBook(3
rd
ed.)
–D.J.Mabberley,(2008)
BotanicalGlossary:Aglossaryisan
alphabeticallistofdifferenttermswiththeir
explanations.
AGlossaryofBotanicalTerms–B.D.
Jackson(1928)
TheCambridgeillustratedGlossaryof
BotanicalTerms–M.Hickey&C.King
(2000)

38. Thank You