Now identify trees in the Sahyadri region from its leaves

Pune, September 7, 2020: In order to help identify many species of the trees in the Sahyadri valley in the Western Ghats, Shrikant Ingalhalikar, a renowned nature researcher from Pune has created an e-book called ‘Trees of the Sahyadri’ which will hold all information about the trees through the classification of their leaves.

Through this e-book, which is first of its kind, the information on the trees will be now available to students, botanists, forest department staff, landscape designers, nurserymen, environmental decision makers and ecologists at the click of a mobile. This e-book was recently unveiled in Pune by Sayaji Shinde, famous actor and president of the social organization ‘Sahyadri Devrai’.

Speaking on the initiative, Ingalhalikar, who has spent many years trying to find the identity of a tree from the leaf structure said, “In the mountain ranges of Sahyadri, from South Gujarat to North Karnataka, you can find about 400 species of trees. In order to identify these rare tree species in the dense forest, renowned scientist, Carl Linnaeus discovered a method of identifying his botanical formula from flowers and fruits in the eighteenth century, which is still used today. However, the flowers and fruits of the trees are available only at certain times of the year and it is often difficult to get them as they are at a height. In contrast, the leaves of the tree can be easily obtained at low altitudes and at any time of the year, so I created the identity of these trees based on the characteristics of the leaf structure. This out of the box leaf based field guide offers quick and easy navigation for identification of 400 trees of Sahyadri. It covers 333 forest trees, 24 mangroves and 43 urban tree species.”

The special feature of this book is the beautiful photos of the leaves of 400 trees and the classical and Marathi name of the trees besides brief information.

“As 75% of the species listed in this book are found in other parts of India besides Sahyadri, this book can be used everywhere across India”, said Ingalhalikar.

During the launch of the e-book, Sayaji Shinde emphasized on its need and appreciated Shrikant Ingalhalikar. “This will help many to know the treasures of the Sahyadri valley and will help in its conservation,” he said.

The e-book hyperlink will make it easier to obtain the tree name by crossing the tree species identification formula. It can also be used on a mobile phone while standing in front of a tree in the forest. However, Internet connection will be required for using this e-book.

This e-book can be purchased from Google Play Books app on Android devices and Apple devices on gmail log in. A free sample is also available here. It will soon be available on ‘itunes connect’ app for non gmail log in.

Shrikant Ingalhalikar is a mechanical engineer by profession and has been studying plants for over 5 decades. Prior to his book ‘Trees of Sahyadri’, he also wrote the books ‘Trees of Pune’, ‘Trees of Kas’, ‘Nawa Asmant’, ‘Flowers of Sahyadri’, ‘Further Flowers of Sahyadri’ and ‘Additions to Flowers of Sahyadri’.