A checklist of Berberidaceae in Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya, India

Abstract

In India, Berberidaceae is represented by three genera and 68 species. The largest among genera is Berberis (55 species). Majority of Berberidaceae members are distributed in the Himalayan region. Only four species are found away from the Himalayan region, i.e., Nilgiri hills, Chhota Nagpur and Pachmarhi hills of Madhya Pradesh. Extensive surveys were conducted in various ecoclimatic zones of Uttarakhand between years of 2008 and 2010. For each species encountered, field notes were taken along with the voucher specimen following standard technique. During field survey, field notes, date, locality, habitat and brief identification features were noted. A checklist of 36 taxa of Berberidaceae recorded from the state of Uttarakhand, India, is provided. Of these, 32 belong to genus Berberis and four belong to genus Mahonia. The present study shows that Berberis hamiltoniana Ahrendt and Berberis apiculata Ahrendt are new records for Uttarakhand state. Berberis lambertii Parker has been rediscovered after a century gap. Nomenclature has been updated as far as possible with the help of available recent taxonomic literature.