This bulletin is the comprehensive work on "The Wildferns of Madras City and its Immediate Neighbourhood" written by Thiru. M.S. Chandrasekar, former Curator for Botany Section in the Government Museum. He has explored and brought out the collection of ferns in and around the Chennai city. He has identified and recorded 19 species of different groups of pteridophytic plants which are described in this book with proper illustrations supplemented with photographs. The illustrations have been provided to show the diagnostic and technical character of each of the 19 species. The author has written this to faciliate the easy identification of sporophytes of the ferns and have included the economic importance of these ferns whose data were available. The author has provided the equivalents along with a few guidelines for fern collectors.
This bulletin deals mainly with wild ferns in and around the Madras city. Since this comprehensive bulletin serves the needs of Botanists, students and public the need for reprinting has arisen. I am happy to bring it out as a reprint under the Museum publication.
This publication deals with only those ferns which grow wild, or are reported to have been found growing so, in and around Madras City. Plants not found wild by the writer, have been indicated at the appropriate places in the text. The area covered by this work, roughly extends upto 80 km. to the west, 80 km, to the south, and 90 km. to the north, of Madras City. the eastern limit being the sea-shore. It is a vast plain the monotony of which is beguiled a little by the relic hillocks that are seen studded here and there. In the north however the Nagaris offer a paradise to the plant-collectors. They present at Kambakam Village several slopes in several directions, become an important water-shed with luxurious vegetation, and provide ideal conditions for the growth of ferns of different habitats. Shooting up almost vertically to the height of 762 m. above mean sea level, they provide at that village unique facilities for studying the plants not only in different environs but also at different elevations. Almost all the ferns, described in this work, hail therefore from there.
Frequent exploratory trips to a number of localities in the area were made, and on-the-spot observations were recorded and consolidated to form the foundation for this work.
It is interesting to observe that, some of the species collected by other botanists in the past, are not available now in the area, or (if available) are scarce. The easily-attributable reason is the attention the area has received from the local colleges, their over-zealous students, and the disappearance of large trees.
Ferns have in their life-history a distinct alternation of generations in which the sporophytes are more conspicuously and elaborately developed than the gametophytes which are so small that they have not been studied yet in several cases. This publication is intended only to be of help in the identification of the sporophytes of the ferns in the area. it therefore describes only the sporophytes. The gametophytes are referred to only very briefly, and that too, only when a mention of it is considered a desirable addendum.
The same reasons explain also the provision of an artificial key for identification of the ferns in the area, which is based only on the characters of the sporophytes.
The classification of fems has been changing from time to time, owing largely to the new discoveries that are frequently made with the help of improved equipments, and in no less degree to the multifarious diversities in the characters of these plants themselves. Further, parallel and divergent evolution appears to have been the rule with the ferns; and it has created numerous problems which are yet to be satisfactorily solved for the establishment of an acceptable natural system of classification for them (ferns). In other words, no finality has been reached yet in the classification of these plants. In this book, Pichi-Sermolli's system of classification as subsequently modified by the various other authors (cited in the Bibliography), and as would suit the In situations, is followed. This work marks off the disputed items, wherever necessary, and does not go into controversies. For more detailed information the authorities cited in the bibliography. may be consulted.
Attempts have been made wherever the relevant data are available, to include the ecoνοικτής importance of the plants under description. Should any information of this kind is wanting in respect of any species in this work, it is so not because it is unimportant, but because it could not be had. As all plants serve man in their own way, information that can fill up these omissions can no doubt, be there, and if sent, will be thankfully received at the Government Museum Madras.
Every effort has been made to ascertain and incorporate the names of these plants in Tamil which is the language of the State. But information in this regard is wanting in common pariance, in the case of almost all these plants. To get over this difficulty the principle followed in the Government List of Technical and Scientific Terms. 1947 are adopted in finding the Tamil equivalents which are fumished in Appendix V. Besides, the English popular name or the (Latin) scientific name, whichever is comparatively easier, has been freely translated into Tamil in accordance with the meaning broadly conveyed by it, in respect of each fern. These newly-coined names in Tamil may lack in history and popular usage. But, they are included here and shown within brackets (Appendix V), only till popularly-understood names evolve out and replace them, or till they themselves become popular.
This being a museum publication it is considered highly desirable to include a few words for the guidance of ferm-collectors. As a detailed note will make a separate publication, only a few hints, specially peculiar to the collection and preservation of the ferns mentioned in this work. are furnished in Appendix 1. For more details other works may be referred to, or the Director of Museums, Madras 8 may be addressed.
It has been found necessary during the execution of this work, to use "jargons" some of which are not in common use, and some of which have been rather invented to achieve brevity without sacrificing clarity. Hence a glossary is fumished in Appendix III, in which the terms are defined but only to the extent necessary to understand the text. The description of the different genera and species, is presented in the style adopted in most other botanical works of this kind.
The authors names that follow the plant names, have been abbreviated only on the universally accepted lines. Nevertheless the expanded forms are given in. Appendix IV.
Hindu (931)
Agriculture (123)
Ancient (1098)
Archaeology (785)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (920)
Biography (720)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (166)
Emperor & Queen (571)
Islam (243)
Jainism (319)
Literary (887)
Mahatma Gandhi (379)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Visual Search
Manage Wishlist