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Friday, July 6, 2012

KERALA FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE OPENED TAXONOMY GARDEN


KERALA FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE 
OPENED TAXONOMY GARDEN

 In a move that is expected to bring a renaissance in the science of finding, naming and classifying plant species, the  Kerala Forest Research Institute(KERI) on on Thursday opened a taxonomy garden   at the Bio Resource Park adjacent to the Teak Museum compound in Nilambur. Touted to be the first of its kind in the country, the garden is spread over five acres and is built exclusively for researchers, scientists and science students. There is no entry for general public to the garden which features more than 1,000 species of plant varieties from 127 families The garden has been broadly divided into two sections - herbs and shrubs, and tree species - with exclusive space for each family of plants. At least five varieties of plants from a family have been currently featured. "Apart from plant species across the state, we will collect plants from neighbouring states too," said Ajith Kumar, technical assistant of the garden. Each section details the family name of the plants and its features. The info provided includes the general floral formulae of flowers, the total number of genera and species available, and the number of endemic species in that family of plants. Rare plants like Aristolochiaceae Indica (wild ginger) are also featured.
U M Chandrashekharan, director of Nilambur sub centre of KFRI, said the garden will give accommodation to research students.

Prof. John Kurakar

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