Native Plants Usage in Indian Ornamental Landscaping Scenario: A Review

Abstract

Native plant species have been the part of the local ecosystem and their contribution to fostering the wildlife and other living species is innumerable. However, the manicured landscapes in urban areas vastly boasts of the usage of exotic, introduced plant species in order to beautify them and as a consequence, there has been gradual depletion of native plant species of ornamental values. The commercial nurseries propagate plants which are in demand in landscaping business and hence, scope of conservation in mass scale is also fading. In such a situation, a review has been done about the practical scenario especially in Indian Context. It is undeniable that attempts are being taken in various parts of the world for revival of the native plant species, but not much awareness is observed in India. The Indian gardens are adorned with introduced plants along with very few native ones and the nurseries are propagating plants randomly without knowledge about their ecological significance and origin. Although, research and studies on identification of potential ornamental plants from wild is being done, it is focused in the Himalayas and Western Ghats of India. And not much work was found either on the revival of the native plants which are already established as ornamentals in the landscaped gardens or the newly identified wild species. Hence, there is scope for introduction of those native and wild plant species holding potential as ornamentals into the Indian landscaping scenario for the gain of both the species conservation as well as biodiversity restoration in the urban landscapes.