Checklist of Ericaceae in Tuensang District of Nagaland, India with special reference to Mt. Saramati

Acknowledgements: The author is grateful to Dr. M. Sanjappa, ex-Director, Botanical Survey of India for guidance and providing all facilities during field survey to Tuensang district including Saramati Mt. in 2003. Thanks are also due to Mr. Chuwayuti Cheng, Extra-Assistant Commissioner, Kiphire for his kind permission to survey and providing one Amakhangese guide as interpretator, and to Dr. A.A. Mao, Jt. Director, Arunachal Field Station, Itanagar (then Scientist C at ASSAM) and Dr. T.M. Hynniewta, In-Charge of ASSAM for their all sorts of help for Saramati visit.

During the course of revisionary work on Indian Ericaceae carried out at the Central National Herbarium (CAL) under the "Flora of India Project" (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004), an attempt was made to survey the inaccessible and dense virgin flora of Mt.Saramati besides other parts of Tuensang District.Earlier under the leadership of N.L. Bor, an expedition team consisting of F. Kingdon-Ward, J.H. Hutton and B.S. Hartland surveyed a part of Tuensang District including Mt. Saramati in 1935 (Bor 1936).After six decades, T.M. Hynniewta (1994)  Mt. Saramati lies approximately between 26 0 2'-26 0 7'N & 97 0 6'-97 0 13'E with an area of about 200km 2 and altitudes ranging from 2400-3826 m on the Barail range in Tuensang District under Kiphire subdivision of Nagaland.Mt.Saramati harbours both temperate as well as Himalayan alpine vegetation (2400-3841 m).Alpine vegetation starts at the base camp area of Mt.Saramati (3000m) and extends up to the peak (3841m).Although Changkija & Kumar (1997) mentioned that "the alpine vegetation is met with at high altitudes in ridges of Saramati range, which remains covered with snow for a major part of the year from October to April".The journey from Kohima (state capital) to Kiphire (subdivision of Tuensang District), took about 10 hours by jeep (254km) and from Kiphire to Penkim Village through Pungro (Circle H.Q.) and Salumi by jeep through a narrow and muddy non-metal road took one day (about 62km).From Penkim Village (2100m) it took three days of trekking to reach the peak of Mt.Saramati through Thanamier Village (Fig. 1).A part of Mt.Saramati falls within Myanmar.Besides Mt.Saramati, other places in Tuensang District like Kiphire, Lothar, Pungro, Salumi, Penkim, Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary and Thanamier were also surveyed.
Climate of Mt.Saramati and its vicinity: During summer, the average rainfall is between 200-250 cm and the bulk of precipitation is received through the south-west monsoon.The temperature varies between 10-20 0 C.In winter, the climate is generally dry with low precipitation.The temperature varies between 10-5 0 C and heavy snowfall occurs at higher elevations.
Topography: Mt.Saramati lies on the Barail range which flanks the boundary with Myanmar.The area is entirely hilly and the terrain is one of the most rugged with successive hills of varying heights (Image 1A).
The family Ericaceae Juss.comprises ca.117 genera and 3850 species, cosmopolitan except deserts, usually montane in tropics (Mabberley 2008).A total of 13 genera and ca.200 species occur in India (Panda 2008).The family is represented by nine genera and 37 species in Nagaland (Panda 2008).In this paper, the currently accepted names, habitat, available field data, distribution, threats, relative abundance and specimens examined of 30 taxa belonging to Ericaceae recorded from Tuensang District along with images of live and herbarium specimens of some taxa are provided for easy identification in the field.The enumeration includes, one new taxon, two new records from India and three new distributional records for Nagaland.Of the 30 taxa enumerated, five are endemic to Naga
(v) Lyonia macrocalyx (J.Anthony) Airy Shaw: Flowers not seen, fruits green.Habit-stout erect shrub to treelet up to 2m high.Habitat-growing along rocky slopes.Field status-threatened (only two small populations were observed).
Distribution: Endemic to India (eastern Himalaya: Arunachal Pradesh and northeastern India: Meghalaya, surveyed a part of this district including the mountain.Only a few ericaceous taxa (12 taxa) were enumerated earlier mostly confined to the vicinity of Mt.Saramati.A team of six members, including the author, from the Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Circle, Shillong surveyed different parts of Tuensang District including Mt. Saramati during March-April, 2003 and enumerated 30 taxa of Ericaceae, of which 25 were collected from Mt. Saramati.
Hills and two are endemic to Naga Hills and Eastern Himalaya.Ten taxa are classified as threatened (Anonymous 2009; Vie et al. 2009) due to rapid habitat degradation as a result of natural weathering and rising jhum cultivation practices among different Naga ethnic groups (Image 1B).