Abstract

In tropical forests, owing to the diversity of species, field identification of plants, especially trees, is rather difficult. The enormous height, inconspicous flowers, the short duration of flowers, irregular flowering cycle etc. pose difficulties in the identification using keys based on floral and fruit characters. Nevertheless, identification of trees in the field at sight is often necessary for many practical purposes. Foresters and field biologists often depend on field and vegetative characters for the identification of trees. Efforts have resulted in the preparation of successful field keys in many countries. This is relatively easy when the study is confined to small geographical areas which can be further subdivided based on vegetation types. The field and vegetative characters of trees of Kerala that help in the field identification are discussed