About Us

The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) was established in 1890 with the objectives of exploring the plant resources of the country and identifying plant species with economic virtue. In 1954, the Government reorganised the BSI with the objectives of (1) undertaking intensive floristic surveys and collecting accurate and detailed information on the occurrence, distribution, ecology and economic utility of plants in the country; (2) collecting, identifying and distributing materials that may be of use to educational and research institutions; and (3) acting as the custodian of authentic collections in well planned herbaria and documenting plant resources in the form of local, district, state and national flora.

With highly diverse geographical conditions as in the vast stretches of lofty Himalayan mountains; tablelands and plateaus in the Vindhyan ranges and the Western and Eastern Ghats; the deep valleys and foot-hills of Assam; Central Indian high-lands; the alluvial plains of North and the lower terrains of Southern India, the Indian region exhibits a variety of flora and forest types within a confine for which there is perhaps no similar example exists in any other country of the world. Since ancient times, the vegetable resources of India had attracted the attention of the traders from within the country and outside. The trade on Indian medicinal plants and other forest produce grew many times attracting more and more Arabians, Turkish, Portuguese, Dutch, French and finally the British traders. The Portuguese were probably the first amongst the Europeans to enter India for trade and ultimately gave way to Dutch until 1570 when the British entered the arena and subsequently established East India Company. At the close of 1599, Queen Elizabeth signed the charter and subsequently the British traders became the rulers. The discrete utilisation and scientific management of forest wealth of India was given priority by setting of definite policies. It was under this and other similar circumstances, an institution for the survey of the enormous botanical resources of the country was conceived. Towards the later part of 16th century the utility of medicinal virtues of plants prompted the teaching of Medicine in North Italy, with simultaneous development of ‘live’ and ‘dry and preserved’ gardens. These dry gardens consisting of dried and mounted specimens kept in definite sequence were used as teaching aids for plant science. Soon medical professionals extended similar activities to places outside Italy. Even before the formation of East India Company in 1599, in India there had been another similar botanical pursuits.

Mandate of Botanical Survey of India

Primary

• Exploration, inventorization and documentation of phytodiversity (including non-flowering plants) in India; publication of National, State and District Floras.
• Identification of Red list species and species rich areas needing conservation; ex situ conservation of critically threatened taxa in botanical gardens.
• Survey and documentation of traditional knowledge (ethnobotany) associated with plants.
• Develop National database of Indian plants, including herbarium specimens, live specimens, botanical paintings, illustrations, etc.

Secondary

• Revisionary/Monographic studies on selected plant groups.
• Capacity building in plant taxonomy through refresher courses and post M.Sc. certificate course.
• Environment Impact Assessment of areas assigned to BSI for study.
• Develop and maintain Botanical Gardens, Museum and Herbaria.
• Preparation of Seed, Pollen and Spore Atlas of Indian Plants.

A herbarium specimen is consists of dried plant parts with labelled information on Scientific name and collection data. It has immense use in plant identification, systematics studies and ecological studies.  The Botanical Survey of India has more than 30,00,000 herbarium specimens persevered in different herbaria located in the different parts of the country.

In addition to general collections many type specimens are deposited in the various herbaria of Botanical Survey of India, viz. Arunachal Pradesh Regional Centre, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh (ARUN), Eastern Regional Centre, Shillong, Meghalaya (ASSAM), Central Regional Centre, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh (BSA), Northern Regional Centre, Dehradun, Uttarakhand (BSD), Sikkim Himalayan Regional Centre, Gangtok, Sikkim (BSHC), Western Regional Centre, Pune, Maharashtra (BSI), Deccan Regional Centre, Hyderabad,  Telangana (BSID), Industrial Section, Indian Museum, Kolkata, West Bengal  (BSIS), Arid Zone Regional Centre, Jodhpur, Rajasthan (BSJO), Central National Herbarium, Howrah, West Bengal (CAL), Southern Regional Centre, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (MH) and Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (PBL).

MAJOR HERBARIA IN INDIA

1. The Central National Herbarium (CAL) located at Howrah, established in 1795 and comprises about 2,000,000 (2 million) specimens. This is the first herbarium in the country and one of the most important Asian Herbaria.

2. Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun contains 350,000 specimens (DD)

3. The National Botanic Gardens, Lucknow contains 260,000 specimens (LWG)

4. Blatter Herbarium, St. Xavier‟s college, Fort Bombay contains 200,000 specimens. (BLAT)

5. Botanical Survey of India has herbaria attached to their regional centres and units in different parts of India.