The National Botanical Research Institute came into being as the 13th among a chain of National Laboratories established during April, 1953 under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research by the Govt. of India for advanced research in fields of specialisation which have a direct bearing on socio-economic, industrial and scientific advancement of the nation. Christened initially as National Botanic Gardens, the nucleus around which the institution took shape under its founder- Director Late Prof. K. N. Kaul, was a large herbarium of Indian flora and a centu- old botanical garden spread over 35 ha of land on the banks of River Gomti in the heart of Lucknow city. It’s a matter of great pleasure and profound satisfaction to me that a Golden Jubilee volume entitled, “Pteridology in the New Millennium” is being published and released during the Golden Jubilee year of NBRI in the honour of Professor B. K. Nayar who laid the foundation of the Pteridology Laboratory of the NBRI, which is now a well equipped laboratory for the study of Indian pteridophytes. Professor Nayar is a holistic Botanist as evident through his contributions and publications in almost all the areas of study of Pteridophyta. The contribution of Professor Nayar towards the development of modern Pteridology and the role of NBRI in it is indeed great and very important. His publications will be valuable for the younger generation of scientists in the field as well as for the more mature research workers and teachers.

This encyclopedia offers access to the diversity of ferns and seed plants, the most important groups of green land plants. Available information of general and systematic relevance is synthesized at the level of families. Evidence from virtually all disciplines important to modern taxonomy makes the work a most valuable source of reference not only for taxonomists, but for all who are interested in the various aspects of plant diversity. A revised classification includes a complete inventory of genera along with their diagnostic features, keys for identification, and references to the literature. The first volume deals with pteridophytes and gymnosperms.

This book tackles a major problem in modern fern botany, the increasing practice of naming mistaken New species etc. Aspects and origins of the problem are discussed and followed by a comprehensive, annoted list of incorrect names given since Independence in 1947 to pteridophytes occurring in the Indian sub-continent, showing where errors were made and what are hoped to be the correct names. The list includes careful and fully detailed taxonomic reasoning in relation to genera and specifically species, the identity of type-specimens, the application of the latest international code of Botanical nomenclature and the existence of earlier names from various regions of Asia. Over 2,000 names are mentioned in shortly under 100 of the accepted genera and nearly 70 important and necessary new names are given, or new taxa described. Many new records of less known Himalayan ferns are given, resulting from the author's many years of detailed research in British and other European herbaria, as well as 20 years of Himalayan botanical collection and field observation. Many of the new records concern Nepal, for which there is a special appendix, and from where a number of more easterly elements have been found to reach previously unknown Western limit to their range. A detailed reference list and comprehensive index are given and the book starts with a dedication and appreciation of his colleague for 20 years, the late Professor Tsdeus Reichstein. LI . Nob. Of Basel, Switzerland. This book is aimed at the specialist and deals with the detailed elucidation of many persistent nomencultural problems in Ferns in order to help clear way towards the eventual production of an accurate Pteridophyte flora of the whole Indian subcontinent. In also drawing widely on and correlating research on ferns in China and Japan it is highly relevant to the study of Pteridophyte throughout Asia.

This well timed volume features a selection of chapters composed by experts in their respective fields. It covers a broad range of topics, from its fundamental biology to the fern’s population genetics and environmental and therapeutic applications.