Lalbagh Botanical Gardens’ green wealth — around 900 genera and over 2,500 plant species — has earned it the moniker ‘Kew of India’.
As the Horticulture Department continues to increase the green cover in the garden, keeping a record of the number of plant and trees, details of the species, the botanical names, and their exact location in the garden has become increasingly difficult. The solution is a digital repository.
To help keep a detailed record of the plant wealth, the department has now tied up with taxonomists from the city to create a digital repository of the plants.
“The project, called the Plant Wealth project of Lalbagh, was initiated six months ago. With the help of professor Ravi Kumar, a taxonomist, and three other scientists, we will be creating a digital record of the plants in Lalbagh,” said M. Jagadeesh, Joint Director (Parks and Gardens).
Under the project, which will take another eight months to be completed, the plants will be identified and named according to their place of origin, species, and their flowering season. “Once the survey is over, the digitisation process will begin. Global Positioning Systems will be set up to locate the plants in the garden. The system will help us identify the plant species and its location,” said Mr. Jagadeesh, and added that while the project would make the department’s work of managing the largest green space in the city easy, it would also give information to the public.
“After documentation, we are planning to bring out an illustrative book on the plant wealth in Lalbagh. Also, an index book will be created where the names of all plants will be written in alphabetical order with relevant information. We are planning to create an mobile application as well, which can be used by the visitors to locate and learn about the plants in Lalbagh,” he said.
