Credits

The two of us started out as just laypersons, interested in flowers. So, identifying every flower we saw, was a daunting task. And seeing flowers in all parts of India was a more difficult one. Over time, Flowers of India has become a community effort, with lots of people contributing identifications. There are lots of people who regularly watch the site for unidentified flowers and keep sending their feedback. Some really enthusiastic ones have also been contributing flower pictures taken by them from various parts of India. We can safely quote Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi to describe the Flowers of India effort:
मैं अकेला ही चला था जानिबे मंज़िल मगर, लोग साथ आते गये और कारवां बनता गया ॥
(I started all alone towards the goal/(but) people kept joining and it slowly turned into a caravan)
This site would not have been possible in its present form without the valuable contributions of the following persons (this doesn't include many many more who make regular contribution, and keep encouraging us)

Prashant Awale:
Prashant is an enginner by profession and developed watching wild flowers as a hobby. He has been extensively trekking the sahyadri ranges. He has become an active contributor to the site by frequently sending us his beautifully photographed wild-flowers.

Dinesh Valke:
Dinesh is an enthusiastic amatuer photographer and nature lover. He has been going after the flora with an admirable determination. He regularly watches the site and contributes new flower pictures and identifications. He is great at hunting out regional names of flowers and putting them in native scripts.

Pravin Kawale:
Pravin is an enthusiastic nature lover and a talented photographer. He has an NGO, Nisargmitra Alibag, which works for nature conservation. He regularly sends us pictures of wildflowers of the Western Ghats. His pictures are beautifully taken, and already identified when they reach us.

Radhika Vatsan:
Radhika, a theoretical physicist at BITS, Goa, has been involved in identifying flowers on the site right from the time the site was born. She has also contributed many flower photographs to the site and is the main person behind providing Tamil names and putting them in Tamil script. She wrote the section on Flowers in Ancient Literature.

Navendu Pagé:
Navendu Pagé (pronounced paagay) is student of botany in Pune. His skill in his field can be guaged from the fact that he identified flowers lying in our unidentified list, 15 at first go, 21 at second go and 6 at third go! He made a trip to Sikkim and took a large number of really nice photographs of Himalayan flowers, and contributed them here.

 Nongthombam Ulysses:
Ulysses started out as an interested observer, but has slowly grown into an active participant. He has identified many flowers, contributed many flower pictures, and has been part of our unorganised flower-hunting trips.

Shaista Ahmad:
An overenthusiastic student, having completed her masters in physics, she actually took her college gardener to a cybercafe to get the flower pictures identified! She helped us identify lots of flowers, and also provided some local names. She continues to provide photographs, identifications and suggestions, and has become part of the active team. She has voluntarily taken over the role of PRO for the site and has done wonders in making the site known to flower lovers and botanists.

R.K. Nimai Singh:
It was a stroke of luck for us that Dr. Nimai Singh discovered our site. He is an Admistrative Services officer, but has a long-standing interest in plants. He has introduced many new plants in Manipur. His knowledge of plants is enviable and he has been generous in sharing it by identifying plants which were especially difficult for us.

Rita Singh:
A faculty member at the Indra-Prastha University, Delhi, Rita Singh is a botanist by profession. She identified numerous flowers on this site. Takes keen interest in the site. She is an experts in cycads.

Anu Venugopalan:
A faculty member at the Indra-Prastha University, Delhi, and a physicist by profession, Anu showed keen interest in the site and helped in identifying many flowers. She was also responsible for getting us in touch with Rita Singh.

Some of the others who have been contributing in various ways, are:

The following books proved helpful:

  1. Tropical flowers of southeast Asia
    William Warren and Luca Invernizzi Tettoni, Perplus Editions (1996)
  2. RHS Good plant guide
    ( Dorling Kindersley (1998))
  3. Concise Flowers of the Himalayas
    Oleg Polunun and Adam Stainton ( Oxford University Press (1987))
  4. Flowers of the Himalayas: A supplement
    Adam Stainton ( Oxford University Press (1988))
  5. Common Trees
    H. Santapau ( National Book Trust (1966))
  6. Trees of Delhi
    Pradip Krishen, (DK, 2006)
  7. Flowers of Sahyadri
    Shrikant Ingalhalikar, (Corolla, 2001)
  8. Common Indian Wild Flowers
    Isaac Kehimkar, (BNHS, 2000)

Tabish
Thingnam Girija