The lichens are unique group of organisms with symbiotic association between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacteria. The lichens are defined as “a self-sustaining ecosystem formed by the interaction of an exhabitant fungus and an extracellular arrangement of one or more photosynthetic partners and an indeterminate number of other microscopic organisms” (Hawksworth and Grube 2020). In the world till date about 20,000 species of lichens are known to occur. The tropical rain forests have the highest species richness and 600 or more species can be found just within a km2 (Lücking et al. 2009). India has rich diversity of lichens represented by 2985 species, 6 subspecies, 35 varieties and 2 forma, distributed under 469 genera and 88 families. Among different states of India Uttarakhand represent maximum number of lichens with 998 taxa followed by Tamil Nadu and West Bengal with 892 and 735 taxa (Sinha 2021). From Uttar Pradesh state so far 185 lichen species are reported.
The Lichenology laboratory at National Botanical Research Institute was established by Dr. Ajay Singh in 1961 during the directorial regime of Prof. K.N. Kaul. Though Lichenology in India has the history of fifty years, it is yet a neglected branch of botany and has not attracted many researchers. At present, in India including NBRI, there are only three main centres for lichen studies and the other two are Botanical Survey of India and Agarkar Research Institute, Pune. The lichenology laboratory at NBRI, now emerged as a major centre for lichenological activities in India with excellent herbarium, lichen literature and well-equipped infrastructure facilities for identification of lichens.
The Lichenology laboratory at National Botanical Research Institute was established by Dr. Ajay Singh in 1961 during the directorial regime of Prof. K.N. Kaul. Though Lichenology in India has the history of fifty years, it is yet a neglected branch of botany and has not attracted many researchers. At present, in India including NBRI, there are only three main centres for lichen studies and the other two are Botanical Survey of India and Agarkar Research Institute, Pune. The lichenology laboratory at NBRI, now emerged as a major centre for lichenological activities in India with excellent herbarium, lichen literature and well-equipped infrastructure facilities for identification of lichens.
