Plants personify the divine— The Rig Veda (X.97) Trees and plants have long been held sacred to communities the world over. In India, we have a whole variety of flora that feature in our myths, our epics, our rituals, our worship and our daily life. There is the pipal, under which the Buddha meditated on the path to enlightenment; the banyan, in whose branches hide spirits; the ashoka, in a grove of which Sita sheltered when she was Ravana’s prisoner; the tulsi, without which no Hindu house is considered complete; the bilva, with whose leaves it is possible to inadvertently worship Shiva. Before temples were constructed, trees were open-air shrines sheltering the deity, and many were symbolic of the Buddha himself. Sacred Plants of India systematically lays out the sociocultural roots of the various plants found in the Indian subcontinent, while also asserting their ecological importance to our survival. Informative, thought-provoking and meticulously researched, this book draws on mythology and botany and the ancient religious traditions of India to assemble a detailed and fascinating account of India’s flora.

The importance of wetlands to life on Earth is now generally accepted. This is a reference book and identification manual for the vascular plants found in permanent or seasonal fresh water in the subcontinent of India south of the Himalayas. About 660 species are described, and all plantsare illustrated by line drawings showing the diagnostic features. The text is written in a style for both experts and those with only a little botanical training. Scientists and conservationists will be able to identify the plants with accuracy and to build on this information to promoteconservation.