Trees of Maharashtra
Introduction
Maharashtra is rich in arboreal flora. Maharashtra has got various types of forests including evergreen forest to moist deciduous forests and dry deciduous forests to thorny scrubs. Trees in Maharashtra are distributed in various rainfall regions like Konkan, Western Ghats, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Khandesh and Marathwada. Critical survey of literature (Sharma et a.l, 1996; Singh et al., 2001- 2003; Almeida, 1996-2003) with reference to tree flora revealed occurrence of as many as total 463 species, 5 subspecies and 11 varieties of wild trees and in addition to these around 262 commonly cultivated species of trees can be found in Maharashtra. Out of the total wild trees AbOUT 54 endemic species are reported to occur in Maharashtra. Mishra & Singh (2001) mentioned 3 tree species in their work on Endemic and Threatened Flowering Plants of Maharashtra.
Taxonomic studies
Compiled checklist of trees of Maharashtra
State list
District wise list
Region wise (as par rainfall pattern e. g. Konkan, Ghats, Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbh, Marathwada, Khandesh)
Compiled checklist of Nonnative or Exotic Trees of Maharashtra.
Commonly used exotic tree for plantation are -
1.Eucalyptus 2.Gliricidia 3.Subabhul 4.Rain tree 5.Pink Cassia 6.Kaju 7.Badam 8.Australian Acacia 9.Casuarina 10.Kanchan 11.Silver Oak 12.Spathodia 13.Cassia spp 14.Mohogani
Landscape Ecology of Trees
Various habitats and forest types
Distribution of trees in various forest types
Distribution of trees in various habitats (eg. Riparian, Mangroves, etc.)
Evergreen and deciduous trees
Tree communities in various habitats of Maharashtra
Species Ecology
Use pattern for trees
Other Aspects
Rare, Endemic and threatened trees
There are about 54 endemic trees which grow in Maharashtra
Threatened Trees of Mahrashtra as per Mishra & Singh(2001)
1. Family- Tiliaceae Name: Erinocarpus nimmonii Grah. ex Dalz. Category: Low Risk (LR)
2. Family- Lauraceae Name: Litsea wightiana (Nees) Benth. & Hook. f. Category: Critically Endangered (CR)
3. Family- Euphorbiaceae Name: Epiprinus mallotiformis (Muell.-Arg) Crozatiin Category: Critically Endangered (CR)
External Links
Timber Trees of India