Books on Sikkim orchids released

Gangtok, Jun 18 (UNI) After 110 years since the first monumental works on orchids of Sikkim was published by Sir George King and Robert Pantling in 1889, a voluminous 1200-page hard cover with an enhanced list of 557 fully treated orchid species of the Himalayan state was released today authored by S.Z.Lucksom, a forest official of the Sikkim government.

Releasing the book, forest minister S.B.Subedi said the book has documented Sikkim's rich bio-diversity.

Titled, the Orchids of Sikkim and Northeast Himalaya-, the book describes 557 orchid species out which 523 species are found in Sikkim. The book documented as many as 12 new orchid species, 4 sub-species and 5 new reports from Sikkim.

Fivehundred-fortyone hand drawn sketches and 351 coloured photographs of the orchids spread over 39 plates add more appeal to the monumental work that took 21 years to complete.

"I do not claim that I have traveled all the forests of Sikkim while doing field studies and authenticating the availability of the orchid species but I have visited the orchid areas of which I have documented in my book", said Lucksom, who is also the Director of Himalayan Zoological Park.

UNI BG PC KLC1630