BIODIVERSITY IN INDIA

The term biodiversity encompasses the variety of all life forms on earth. It is identified
as the variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes of which they
are part, including diversity within and between species and ecosystem.
In simple words it can be defined as variety, variability between genes, species and
ecosystems.
Levels of Biodiversity
There are three levels of diversity
Species Diversity
Genetic Diversity
Ecosystem or Habitat Diversity

Mangifera indica L.

The name mango, almost identical in countless languages, is derived from Tamil, and was
transferred to the West by the Portuguese. The general term for "mango" in Tamil is mamaran, but
the fruit is usually referred to either as manpalam (also transcribed mambazham for "ripe mango
fruit" or mangai for "unripe mango fruit". The term 'mangai' seems to have been picked up by
Portuguese sailors who encountered the fruits at harbours and markets. It is possible that mangoes
were dominantly traded in their unripe state at that time. The North Indian names for mango derive
from Sanskrit 'amra', which is probably also derived from the Tamil word for mango. The genus
name Mangifera ("bringer of mango") contains Latin ferre "carry, bring" (see also asafetida), cf.
Lucifer "bringer of light" or Christopher "he who carries Christ".

A native of Burma, Sikkim, Khasia and the W. Ghats (India) , Mango, the national fruit of India,
Philippines and Pakistan, is among the most economically and culturally important tropical fruits,
especially in Asia.
Mangoes belong to the family Anacardiaceae and genus Mangifera. The genus Mangifera contains
several species that bear edible fruit. Most of the fruit trees that are commonly known as mangoes
belong to the species Mangifera indica. The other edible Mangiferaspecies generally have lower
quality fruit and are commonly referred to as wild mangoes.
Mangoes were originally found in the foothills of the Himalayas in northeastern India, Burma, and
Bangladesh, and were domesticated thousands of years ago, possibly independently in Southeast
Asia. Many cultivars in India have been vegetatively propagated for hundreds of years. Now,
however, this tree is grown in most tropical countries and some subtropical ones - it is grown as far
north as 35 to 37 N in southern Spain. Very soon after it's discovery, mangoes were brought to
Malaysia and other East Asian countries, then to East and West Africa, and finally to the New World.
Mangoes were introduced to Brazil by the Portugese from their colonies in Mozambique and Angola;
to Mexico and Panama via the Philippine; and, to the West Indies in the mid-to late 1700s, probably
via Brazil. Much of the spread and naturalization of mangoes has occurred in connjunction with the
spread of human populations, and as such, the mango plays an important part in the diet and cuisine
of many diverse cultures. That there are over 1000 named mango varieties throughout the world
today is in itslf a testament to their value to humans.
Habit : Evergreen Trees. Reaches heights of 1530 m (50100 ft); cultivated trees are usually 310
m (1033 ft) high when mature.
Trunk & Bark : Trunk fluted near base; bark scaly.
Branches and Branchlets : Terete. Branchlets brown, glabrous.
Exudates : Watery and acrid. In sensitive individuals, ingestion of the fruit, or skin contact with its
juice, may cause a poison ivy-like rash.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, clustered at twig ends; petiole 1.2-6.2 cm long, swollen at
base, planoconvex in cross section; lamina 8-25 x 1.7-6 cm, narrow oblong-elliptic or lanceolate,
apex gradually acuminate, base acute to attenuate, margin slightly undulate, subcoriaceous,
glabrous; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves many, nearly straight or gradually curved 28 to 30
pairs; tertiary_nerves reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence terminal panicle; flowers polygamous, radially symmetrical,
greenish white.Usually only 1 fertile stamen per flower; 4 other stamens are sterile. Each flower has
a conspicuous 5-lobed disk between the petals and stamens.
Fruit and Seed : Irregularly egg-shaped and slightly compressed fleshy drupe, 8-12 (-30) cm long,
attached at the broadest end on a pendulous stalk. Skin smooth greenish-yellow, sometimes tinged
with red. Underlying yellow-orange flesh varies in quality from soft, sweet, juicy and fiber-free in
high-quality selected (clonal) varieties to turpentine-flavored and fibrous in unselected (wild)
seedlings. Individual fruits can be round, oval, heart-shaped, or kidney-shaped; and can weigh as

little as a few ounces or as much as five pounds. The soft pulp is juicy and sweet, although it can
sometimes has an acid overtone. At its best, mangoes have a pleasant resinous quality, but at its
worst can smell like kerosene. The single, large, inedible compressed-ovoid seed is 3.5-20 cm long
and encased in the white fibrous inner layer of the fruit.