India’s first cryptogamic garden

In news- India’s first cryptogamic garden has been inaugurated in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun district.

Key updates-

It is located in the Chakrata town of Dehradun.
A garden at Deoban in Chakratahouses almost 76 different species of cryptogams, a primitive plant species found since the Jurassic era.
Because of its low pollution levels and moist conditions which are conducive for the growth of these species, Deoban is chosen.
Deoban also has pristine majestic forests of Deodar and Oak which create a natural habitat for cryptogamic species.

About Cryptogams-

A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds.
“Cryptogamae” means “hidden reproduction”, referring to the fact that no seed is produced.
Other names, such as “thallophytes”, “lower plants”, and “spore plants” are also occasionally used.
The best-known groups of cryptogams are algae, lichens, mosses and ferns, and also includes non-photosynthetic organisms traditionally classified as plants, such as fungi, slime molds, and bacteria.
Algae comprises the most primitive organisms which are predominantly aquatic, both in marine as well as freshwater habitats.
Ferns are the largest living group of primitive vascular plants while fungi is a kingdom of usually multicellular eukaryotic organisms that are heterotrophs.
Bryophytes are the simplest and primitive land plants that occupy an intermediate position between algae and pteridophytes.
Lichens are a complex life form that is a symbiotic partnership of two separate organisms, a fungus and an algae.
Cryptogams are considered among the best bioindicators, as they grow only at places without pollution and with ample soil moisture.
These species will just vanish even if there is the slightest deviation in the environmental indicators.
Not all cryptogams are treated as part of the plant kingdom; the fungi, in particular, are regarded as a separate kingdom, more closely related to animals than plants, while blue-green algae are now regarded as a phylum of bacteria.