Plant Iconography Vis-A-Vis Plant Invasion in India: Glimpses, Sources and Evidences

Abstract

India is a biodiversity rich country as well as mosaic of cultural traditions. Plant invasion has been demonstrated by biodiversity studies in India. Mankind had always determined the status of plant, whether indigenous or exotic and developed with them abstract relationships. The present author revealed a role of 26 exotic plant species in the development plant iconography and simultaneous forces of plant invasion in India even during pre-Columbian period. India being rich in ancient literary sources in the form of Vedas, Puranas, epics, caves, temples, Sanskrit writings etc. and replete with plant references, afforded numerous sources of plant iconography. It is an outstanding resource for research on plant history and diversity. However, study of plant iconography demands a wide collaboration with researchers of different subjects or disciplines. At the same, plant invasion hand-in-hand plant iconography are discussed pertinently in Indian context, a hitherto virgin area of research.