Who among the following is a renowned botanist and plant cytologist, often referred to as the first woman botanist of India?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal
E. K. Janaki Ammal (1897–1984), born in Kerala, was a botanist who studied the chromosomes of plants (cytogenetics). She took a doctorate in botany from the University of Michigan in 1931, worked on hybrid sugarcane varieties at the Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, and co-wrote the Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants (1945) with C. D. Darlington. She later reorganised the Botanical Survey of India and received the Padma Shri in 1977.