Research Projects

Convolvulaceae Juss. is a family of plants with around 1900 species in 59-60 genera, including 180 species in India. The family has gained attention for floristic revision worldwide, with suggestions such as merging Argyreia with Ipomoea and Merremia splitting into four genera. Field botanists have acknowledged changes in flowering time and pattern due to climate change and phenotypic plasticity, but have not yet seen the original specimens or had time and funds for fieldwork. Anatomically, the family remains neglected at national and international levels. Only Metcalfe & Chalk (1950) and Carlquist & Hanson (1991) have conducted exhaustive studies on the wood anatomy of the family. Carlquist & Hanson (1991) studied systematic anatomy using dry wood samples of 16 genera and 35 species, while other sporadic studies can be found in the literature. The family is characterized by the presence of cambial variant (intraxylary phloem) and medullary bundles. The proposal proposes four other species of Indian Argyreia and further research is expected to reveal their occurrence. Anatomical studies on the Convolvulaceae are already in progress in the proposal's lab, reporting several features that are unreported and new to the science. Several taxa of the Indian Convolvulaceae remain to be investigated.