Systematics of Ornamental Crops

The book serves as a much-needed academic resource designed to bridge the gap between voluminous botanical references and the practical needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Focused specifically on ornamental plant systematics, this book offers a simplified yet comprehensive overview of key taxonomic principles, with particular relevance to the Indian flora. The text is structured into 55 independent chapters, allowing flexibility in teaching and learning. Early chapters explore the historical foundations of taxonomy, methods of plant collection, classification systems, and the rules of botanical nomenclature. Specialized chapters introduce students to emerging fields like chemotaxonomy, palynotaxonomy, and serotaxonomy. Midway through the book, detailed discussions cover herbarium techniques, botanical libraries, biodiversity conservation tools like the Red Data Book, and the role of botanical gardens. Central to the text is the in-depth treatment of 33 prominent angiosperm families found in India, with chapters 20 through 54 dedicated to family-wise floral formulae, diagnostic characters, and systematic placement. This hands-on approach equips students with the necessary tools to identify, describe, and classify ornamental plants based on floral structures and taxonomic markers. The book is also a valuable reference for teachers, horticulturists, and plant science professionals. Written in accessible language without compromising on academic rigor, the book balances clarity with depthmaking complex concepts easy to understand while preserving scientific accuracy.

Dr. Manjunath S. Patil has completed his bachelor degree in horticulture with distinction from the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri in 2002. He completed M.Sc. in Horticulture obtaining first rank with gold medal from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad in 2004. He completed his Ph.D. in Horticulture in 2008 with first class from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. For his Ph.D. dissertation he worked on Breeding and development of molecular markers linked to bacterial blight resistance in anthurium (Anthurium andreanum Lind.). He was awarded with University merit scholarship for Master’s and Devki Devi Ahuja award Doctoral degree programmes. Initially he worked as Senior Research Fellow at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Bengaluru in a CSIR funded project on Development of molecular markers for bacterial blight resistance. He started his carrier as Assistant Professor of Horticulture at College of Agriculture, Pune, MPKV, Rahuri, Maharashtra, from 2009 to 2017. Currently he is working as Assistant professor of Horticulture at ZARS, Solapur in the same university. During the period he taught courses like Plant Propagation and Nursery Management, Commercial Floriculture, Ornamental Horticulture, Landscape Gardening, Breeding of flower crops, Commercial floriculture, Value addition in flowers, Breeding of fruit and plantation crops, for Under Graduate and Post Graduate students in Horticulture. He also guided 15 students as Chairman or member of Advisory Committee for post graduate degree programmes. So far he has published more than 35 research articles apart from co-authoring a text books on Strategies for In vitro conservation of Gladiolus published by Lambert Academic Press, Germany, edited a chapter on Biodiversity of Anthurium, Daya Publishing House, and Essence of Horticulture and Flower Breeding and Genetics, New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi.

Dr. Anil. R. Karale was born in 1954 at Satara District of Maharashtra State in India. He completed his bachelor degree in Agriculture with first class from the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri in 1975. He completed Master Degree in horticulture obtaining first class in 1977 and doctoral degree in Horticulture in 1997 from the same university. He acted as Cocourse Director, CAS trainings at Rahuri. He was superannuated as Associate Dean, College of Agriculture, Pune, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Maharashtra, in 2014. During this period he taught courses like Breeding of fruit crops, Plant Propagation and Nursery Management, Commercial Floriculture, protected floriculture, etc. for Under Graduate and Post Graduate and Ph.D. students in Horticulture. He was associated with the development of pomegranate varieties like G-137, P-26, Mridula, Phule Arakata, Bhagwa. So far he has handled more than 3 research projects on various aspects of Horticulture and published more than 60 research articles. He acted as PI of ICAR Ad-hoc Project Improvement of Tamarind by selection and Niche Area of Excellence, High-Tech Floriculture Project. He also guided 24 students as Chairman or member of Advisory Committee for post graduate and Ph.D. degree programmes. So far he has published more than 140 popular articles, apart from he had written 8 books, 44 book chapters, 18 radio talks, etc.

Dr. B. Jayanna Naik was a subject expert in plant biotechnology. He was born in 1984 in ommaganipalli village, Bramhasamudram Mandal, Anantapuramu District, Andhra Pradesh, India. He completed his M.Sc. in the Department of Biotechnology from Sri Krishnadevaraya University in the year of 2007. He obtained his Ph. D from the Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur in the Department of Biotechnology in the year 2016. He did his post-doctoral research at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Jeju, South Korea. Later he was joined as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, Central University of Andhra Pradesh, Ananthapuramu, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Dr. Venkatesh S.C. is working as Associate Professor of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology and presently working at Regional Horticulture Research and Extention Centre, Bengaluru, University of Horticultural Sciences Bagalkot. Having 27 years of research experience in the field of Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Molecular breeding and teaching experience of 15 years. Taught courses in the field of biotechnology, Biochemistry, Crop Physiology, Breeding for UG and PG students. Guided 2 M.Sc. students of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology department and one M.Sc. student of Plantation Spices, Medicinal & Aromatic crops department as a major advisor. Served as a member for more than 15 M.Sc. students. Published more than 25 research articles in the peer reviewed International and National Journals. Visited John Innes Centre Norwich, UK and Tanzania. Undergone several international trainings. Part of the Ph.D. work was conducted at John Innes Centre Norwich, UK.