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Contents: Message. Foreword. Acknowledgement. 1. Introduction.  2. Historical background. 3. Geographical features. 4. Socioeconomic features. 5. Agriculture. 6. Horticulture. 7. Previous Botanical exploration. 8. Plan of work and methodologies. 9. Floristics and vegetation. 10. Key to families of fern and fern allies. 11. Key to families of flowering plants. 12. Results and discussion statistical analysis of the flora and ethnobotanical information. 13. Economically important plants. Conclusions. Recommendations. List of Photographs. Bibliography. 

The tribal dominated Deogarh district in north-west of Odisha is rich in floristic diversity due to its geographical location, varied topography and climate conditions. However, the detailed floristic account of this biodiversity rich district of Odisha is still to be explored. Deogarh district was carved out on 01.01.1994, from Sambalpur district. Though the “Flora of Sambalpur” was attempted by Panda and Das (2004) and plants from localities of Deogarh district find mention there yet, the detailed floristic diversity of Deogarh district remained under explored.

The present work is the first serious attempt in this direction. This Flora is based on several years of extensive and intensive botanical explorations, study of taxonomic literature and critical identification of plants housed in different Indian herbaria. In addition to a comprehensive floristic account of the existing vegetation, the book provides lucid taxonomic details on 724 vascular plants including 28 species of cultivated plants pertaining to 148 families and 488 genera recorded from the area.

The families are arranged according to Bentham & Hooker’s system of classification. The keys to the families, genera and species are simple and easy to follow for correct identification. The brief description of plants includes habit, vegetative and floral characters, the period of flowering and fruiting, frequency of distribution in the area, habitats and economic importance, followed by collector’s name and field number. Further, a total of 325 plant species are documented for their ethnobotanical uses in more than 50 different ailments. Among those, 90 claims are very interesting and new which needs further pharmacological investigation paving the path towards herbal drug discovery. Information on vernacular names and list of threatened medicinal plants has also been provided. About 90 colour photographs of important plants and their traditional uses of the area have also been included.

Taxonomists, researchers and scientists of biological field, teachers and student of botany and pharmacy, policy makers, foresters and others who are actively engaged in conservation, utilisation and sustainable management of the rich floristic diversity of this region will be largely benefited.