Dr K S Manilal, a renowned botanist and Padma Shri awardee, passed away at the age of 86 in a private hospital in Thrissur. He had been battling a prolonged illness. Dr Manilal was celebrated for his groundbreaking work in translating the ancient Latin botanical text Hortus Malabaricus into English and Malayalam, an endeavour that spanned five decades.

Dr Manilal published over 200 research papers and introduced 19 new plant species to the scientific community, four of which are named after him. His extensive studies on the biodiversity of Kozhikode and Silent Valley are also widely recognised. Hortus Malabaricus, a 12-volume documentation of Kerala's flora originally published in the second half of the 17th century, was made accessible in English and Malayalam for the first time through Dr Manilal's dedication.

Born on 17 September 1938 in Vadakkekara, Paravur, Dr Manilal was the son of Kattungal E Subrahmanyan and KK Devaki. He completed his undergraduate studies at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, and earned a PhD in Botany from Sagar University, Madhya Pradesh, in 1964. He began his teaching career at the Kerala University Calicut Centre’s Botany Department, which later became part of the University of Calicut. In 1971, as a Nuffield Foundation Fellow of the Royal Society, Dr Manilal conducted botanical research in Britain. He was promoted to professor in 1976 and served as senior professor and head of the department until 1986.

Dr Manilal authored more than a dozen books, including the English and Malayalam editions of Hortus Malabaricus. His other notable works include Flora of Calicut (1982), Flora of Silent Valley (1988), Botany and History of Hortus Malabaricus (1980), An Interpretation of Van Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus (1988), and Hortus Malabaricus and the Socio-Cultural Heritage of India (2012).