efloraofindia turns 13

A journey inspired by the book “The Monk who sold his Ferrari” and started on 18^th June 2007 has become 13 years old. It is no more a solitary affair, rather, has grown into a huge carvan. Today on 17^th June 2020 eFI (efloraofindia: Database of Plants of Indian Subcontinent- developed by the members of Efloraofindia Google Group) has grown up to 13 years, now a teenager with enormous potential. It has attracted the attention of amateurs and professionals, naturalists, flora photographers, ecologists, students, teachers, taxonomists, in fact people from all walks of life; it is a non-ignorable treasure of plant diversity of Indian subcontinent. More than half of the wild flowering plant wealth of Indian subcontinent is displayed on the pages of eFI in the form of lively images. Owing to its extensive coverage it is becoming more and more visible to the people world over.

     Presently, more than 13,000 species are displayed with more than 3,00,000 vivid images taken by members of this group. To be more apt these images are arranged on family, genera and species pages to offer comparative view and to facilitate easy identification. More than 255 families and more than 2800 genera of seed plants (Angiosperms and Gymnosperms) are showcased in eFI today. eFI database is founded on 30 strong Pillars, more than 50 dedicated Subject Experts, more than 325 Major Contributors, more than 10,000 previous and existing members and well managed by about 32 Moderators.

    eFI is not restricted to Flowering Plants (Angiosperms) and Gymnosperms, but also contains identified images of many Pteridophytes, Bryophytes, Algae and Fungi.

     Unidentified images on eFI pages are a treasure trove to taxonomists and pose a challenge to explore. Few have already turned out to be new species, new records to the country, extremely rare species not collected since a long time or species photographed for the first time ever.  

     eFI database is a result of selfless teamwork during these 13 years and the motto is “display every plant species of India”. Members from different parts of India and adjacent countries have enriched this resource. It is time to salute team-eFI (Pillars, Subject Experts, Moderators, Major Contributors and members) for untiring efforts to showcase plant diversity of Indian Subcontinent and offering it free to all the nature lovers of the world.