Professor K.S. Manilal, former HoD of Department of Botany, University of Calicut, and the founder of Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT) has been honoured with Padma Shri Award 2020. He was also a recipient of Dr. Janki Ammal Award. He is Chief Editor of the International journal Rheedea, named after van Rheede, and recipient of the prestigious E.K. Janaki Ammal Award for Taxonomy (2003) from the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India. Professor Manilal has written over 200 research papers and 16 books. of which 90 papers and 5 books are on the Hortus Malabaricus.

A great recognition to all the taxonomists of the country..

Rheedea publishes peer-reviewed original research and review articles in angiosperm taxonomy but is planning to expand its remit to include a wider range of topics. At this point, Rheedea is planning a special issue on the angiosperm family Gesneriaceae that has recently seen an increased interest in India and beyond. The MArch issue of Rheedea will be a Special Gesneriaceae Issue

Gesneriaceae are a medium-sized plant family of the order Lamiales, comprises around 3400 species and has a distribution in the Neotropics and in the Paleotropics, with some outliers in Europe and the southern hemisphere. Recently the family classification was aligned with results from molecular phylogenetic analyses and after major generic rearrangements, and the discovery of several new genera the family includes currently around 150 genera in seven tribes in three subfamilies. The family is subject to intensive taxonomic work with new species being described almost on a weekly basis. Significant work is also being carried out on biogeographic and development aspects and many others. To present a cross section of the work currently being carried out on the family, Rheedea invites manuscripts covering all topics of Gesneriaceae research, including but not exclusive systematics, phylogeny, biogeography and taxonomy unrestricted to neoor paleotropic areas.

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