Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2024 | 16(9): 25949–25950
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9419.16.9.25949-25950
#9419 | Received 06 September 2024
Flowers of labour
– Commelinaceae of India: Book review
Rajeev Kumar Singh
Botanical Survey of India, Arid
Zone Regional Centre, AIIMS Road, Jodhpur, Rajasthan 342014, India.
Date of publication: 26 September 2024 (online & print)
Citation: Singh,
R.K. (2024). Flowers of labour – Commelinaceae of
India: Book review. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(9): 25949–25950. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9419.16.9.25949-25950
Copyright: © Singh 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. JoTT
allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any
medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of
publication.
Edition 2024 (2 April 2024), 219
pages + 14 photo-plates ISBN-13: 978-9334053968
Published by Parambi Plant
Research and Education Foundation, Pune, Maharashtra 411041, India
https://www.amazon.in/Commelinaceae-Taxonomic-Revision-Paperback-Nandikar/dp/9334053968
The family Commelinaceae
Mirb. comprises of 41 genera and 731 species (Faden 2012; Christenhusz &
Byng 2016), distributed mainly in the tropics and subtropics, whereas POWO
(2024) accepts 36 genera and 774 species. The members of this family are
commonly known as “Dayflower”. Karthikeyan et al. (1989) recorded 14
genera and 85 taxa from India. Later, Nandikar & Gurav (2020) listed 14 genera and 96 taxa from India, while
these authors in the book ‘Commelinaceae of India (A
Taxonomic Revision & Field Guide)’ have reported 15 genera and 130 taxa, of
which 30 taxa are endemic. The aim of the book is to provide revision of the
Indian Commelinaceae, in a comprehensive way in a
single book which was not attempted earlier. This book is the outcome of the
hard work, careful observations, and untiring efforts of the first author,
which lasted about 14 years (2010–2023). He was awarded Ph.D. in the year 2013
on Indian Commelinaceae. It is a well written, nicely
illustrated, well organized, and produced book.
The book contains nine chapters
or sections, viz., historical outline of Commelinaceae,
methodology, novelties, common & local names, systematic treatment,
cultivated & ornamental species, references, index of plant names, and
photographs. The section on systematic treatment occupies a major portion of
the book. This part begins with morphological descriptions of Commelinaceae members’ habit, stem, leaf, inflorescence,
stamens, pollen grains, style, capsule, and seed, followed by dichotomous key
to the tribes & genera, and genera-wise detailed taxonomic description of
all taxa. Every genus provides the number of taxa in the world & in India,
complete taxonomic citation with synonyms, type species, etymology,
distribution & habitat, and dichotomous key to species & intraspecific
taxa. Each species and intraspecific taxa is given a
current accepted name with relevant taxonomic references, type details,
synonym/s with type details, etymology, detailed morphological descriptions,
distribution & habitat, chromosome count, IUCN threat assessment, notes,
and specimens examined. Coloured photos and line
drawing illustrations with scales are provided for many taxa.
Nonetheless, in such a big work,
a few discrepancies that went unnoticed by authors are mentioned here. The
number of accepted genera, on the page with heading ‘About the book’ and on
page 3 is 15, but in dichotomous key to genera and in systematic treatment the
number is only 12 . Similarly, on page 3 the total
number of accepted taxa given is 131, but in systematic treatment the number is
126. Authors mention the lectotype for the name Cyanotis
fasciculata (B.Heyne ex
Roth) Schult. & Schult.f.
as designated by Arigela et al. (2023), but it was
designated by Singh (2022). Similarly, authors have incorrectly mentioned the
lectotype designation for the names Cyanotis
decumbens Wight, C. dichrotricha
Stocks ex Wight, and C. thwaitesii Hassk. Many citations mentioned in the systematic treatment
are not included in the references section, like Arigela
et al. (2023), Faden (1980), Jameera
et al. (2016), Merrill & Dandy (1937), Singh (2022), and Singh & Muguran (2019).
Overall, the book is a praiseworthy, long-awaited
contribution to the knowledge of the Indian Commelinaceae
and is a must for all botanical institutions, colleges, universities, and for
those interested in Dayflowers. The book should also be very useful to foreign
countries, especially neighbouring countries and
other Asian countries. I congratulate the authors for the great work they have
accomplished and succeeded, and they splendidly deserve substantial compliments
by the entire botanical fraternity of the country.