Vitaceae (the grape family) consists of about 14 genera and 900 species primarily distributed in tropical regions. The family is well known for grapes (species of Vitis L.) and is economically and ecologically important because many species are major climbers in tropical and temperate forests. The grape family is characterized by leaf opposed tendrils, which may be modified to form an inflorescence. The present investigation is an attempt to study taxonomical attributes on the genus of Cissus in Thrissur district. Taxonomic studies were conducted so as to classify the plants of the genus Cissus found in Thrissur district. Cissus vitiginea, Cissus quadrangularis, Cissus latifolia, Cissus repens and Cissus heyneana were studied. Observations of the taxonomical peculiarities solve the species identification problem in Vitaceae.
Kerala is a state on the southwest corner of the Indian peninsula gifted with 44 rivers. Dams have been built across all the major river systems of Kerala in the southern parts of the Western Ghats, creating around 53 reservoirs (Harikumar & Rajendran, 2007). Despite this fact, algal studies are few in the dams of Kerala. In a phycological perspective, only Idukki reservoir (Sebastian & Thomas, 2016), Kanhirapuzha dam (Palaniswamy et al., 2019) and algae from 12 reservoirs of Kerala (Ray et al., 2021) were studied.At all Indian level, many dams studied for algae.
A new species of Parthenocissus, P. wallichianus is described and illustrated from Kerala, India. This taxon was found and collected previously from India but misunderstood by earlier Indian botanists for names under various combinations among the such as Vitis, Cissus, Cayratia, and Causonis. The combinations were based either on the Linnaean Vitis trifolia or on Lamarck's Cissus carnosa. Both these names are currently accepted as conspecific and validated now as belonging to Causonis trifolia (L.) Mabb.et J. Wen. The new taxon has separated from all these genera by a suit of characters and is shown fit best to the genus Parthenocissus. A key for the identification of Indian species of Parthenocissus is also provided.
Perumala Hill station of Thrissur, which we selected for the study, is peculiar for its geographic isolation from nearby areas, and no other nearby hill stations are present. These grass hills are about 103 m. of maximum elevation and 25 acre area. It is protected by worshiping old temple. We got attracted to the place also because of its classic scenic beauty of grasslands. Firing the land is an annual custom they following for years. Although the dominant grass species of the land flourish there year after year. Many rare plants like Habenaria diphilla, Habenaria marginata, Exacum tetragonum, Ophioglossum etc are seen there. To get an awareness about the dominant species of this area, we conducted quadrate studies, calculated Shannon's and Simpson's indices. From the plant list derived from the data in the decreasing order of density, grasses are found to be the major plants of this area. Taxonomic analysis of 7 major grasses was conducted from this area. Among this, Heteropogan contortus found to be having most density among them. Seasonal and climatic variations are very common in the grass species. H. contortus also shows such variation in this area. Arundinella mesophylla an endemic species reported from South India. This plant also found in this small area. The awn movements of A. mesophylla and Eulalia trispicata are found interesting. The flourishing of grass species in this area due to fire resistance. The fire escaping mechanisms of this dominant species are the submerged rhizome, well developed seed dispersal mechanism and seasonal reappearance etc
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