03.04.2013 Views

Biodiversity of Plant Pathogenic Fungi - Kerala Forest Research ...

Biodiversity of Plant Pathogenic Fungi - Kerala Forest Research ...

Biodiversity of Plant Pathogenic Fungi - Kerala Forest Research ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Poeciloneuron indicum Bedd., Polyalthia c<strong>of</strong>feoides (Thw. ex Hook.f. & Thoms.)<br />

Hook.f. & Thoms., Vateria macrocarpa Guptha, etc.<br />

The second storey is characterized by species like Aglaia elaeagnoidea (A. Juss.) Benth.,<br />

Baccaurea courtallensis (Wight) Muell.-Arg., Cinnamomum malabatrum (Burm.f.)<br />

Blume, Dimocarpus longan Lour., Elaeocarpus serratus L., Litsea wightiana (Nees)<br />

Hook.f., Meliosma pinnata (Roxb.) Maxim., Myristica dactyloides non Gaertn., etc.<br />

These trees attain a height <strong>of</strong> 15 to 30 m. The third storey which is less than 15 m in<br />

height consists <strong>of</strong> small trees like Agrostistachys meeboldii Pax & H<strong>of</strong>fm., Jambosa<br />

munronii (Wight) Walp., Memecylon sisparense Gamble, Turpinia malabarica Gamble,<br />

Xanthophyllum flavescens Roxb., etc. Pr<strong>of</strong>use growth <strong>of</strong> shrubs like Solanum surattense<br />

Burm.f., Thottia siliquosa (Lam.) Ding Hou, Psychotria sp., Moghania sp., Strobilanthes<br />

spp., etc. occurs. Only a few monocot species like Calamus thwaitesii Becc. ex Becc. &<br />

Hook, Calamus hookerianus Becc., Pandanus furcatus Roxb., Ochlandra travancorica<br />

(Bedd.) Benth. ex Gamble, O. ebracteata Raizada & Chatterjee, Oxytenanthera sp., etc.<br />

occurs. Ground flora is composed <strong>of</strong> herbs like Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton,<br />

Amorphophallus sp., Heckeria sp., ferns, etc. Climbers like Pothos scandens L., Piper<br />

spp., Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb., Smilax sp., etc. are common.<br />

Ecologically, this type <strong>of</strong> forest is the most advanced stage with high floristic richness<br />

and provides much <strong>of</strong> the tangible and intangible benefits. These forests are the<br />

storehouse <strong>of</strong> many wild relatives <strong>of</strong> the cultivated plants. About 25 per cent <strong>of</strong> the total<br />

forests cover in the <strong>Kerala</strong> part <strong>of</strong> Western Ghats belongs to this category.<br />

In the wet evergreen forests at Sirendri and Panthanthodu (Silent Valley National Park<br />

and Attapady <strong>Forest</strong> Range), periodic surveys revealed that only 39 plant species were<br />

found infected with 16 fungal pathogens. Fungal infections were found mostly on foliage<br />

including leaf spots, leaf blight, leaf blotches, leaf rust and black mildew disease.<br />

Aecidium, Colletotrichum, Corynespora, Curvularia, Guignardia, Phoma, Phomopsis,<br />

etc. are the important foliage pathogens.<br />

31

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!