Flora of Cold Desert - Western Himalaya. Volume 2. 2014. (Flora of India. Series 4: Special and Miscellaneous Publications). 48 col. plates. LVI, 571 p. gr8vo. Hardcover.

Cold Deserts are fragile ecosystem in the rain shadow regions of Trans-Himalayan zone characterized by extreme low temperature, great diurnal fluctuations, scanty & erratic rainfall, and heavy snowfall. It covers only about 2% of total land surface. The total area of cold desert is approximately 98,660 sq. km. of this about 82,665 sq. km. in Jammu & Kashmir, about 15,000 sq. km. in Himachal Pradesh and nearly 1000 sq. km. in Uttarakhand. Specialized habits like cushion or mat forming, diminutive and bushy habits, plants with deep penetrating tap root system, presence of thick and silvery hairy indumentums are some of the key adaptions in cold desert.

The 'Flora of Cold Desert of Western Himalaya', volume-2 provides a detailed floristic account of 1268 taxa, which comprises Pteridophytes [22 species, 1 subspecies, 16 genera and 10 families], Gymnosperms [15 species, 1 variety,6 genera and 3 families] and Angiosperms [1158 species, 29 subspecies, 41 varieties, one forma distributed under 384 genera and 72 families]. Currently accepted names along with synonyms, detailed taxonomic description, phenology, ecological notes and specimens examined were provided.