374 DB. G. WATT OJf THE VEGETATION OF 



It is free from the subtropical types which so largely help to make 

 up the flora to the south of the First Range, as it is also free from 

 those forms which bring to the Third region so much of its 

 Central-Asiatic and Siberian character. Perhaps the most 

 Btriking exception to this remark is to be had in the appearance 

 of Geranium divaricatum, which finds its most eastern station in 

 Kumaon. 



With the exception of the forests of Abies Smithiana, A. Web- 

 biana, and Cedrus Deodara, there are no other trees that can be 

 said to form forests. A^sculus indica is the largest and most 

 handsome tree of this region, its bark scaling off in long linear 

 patches in a manner peculiar to itself. Near villages Cedrela 

 Toona, Melia Azedarach, and Cratceva religiosa, along with 

 JBauMnia variegata, are also sufficiently abundant to attract 

 attention, and, were it not that they are undoubtedly introduced, 

 would form a curious exception to the decided temperate feature 

 of this region. Euonymus Hamiltonianus, Prunus Armeniaca, 

 Zizyplius vulgaris, Hhatnnus purpureus, Cornus macrophylla, and 

 Andromeda ovalifolia, with one or two species of Oak, Poplar, and 

 Willow, and occasionally also Juglans regia, are the chief deci- 

 duous trees of this region. Of bushes and herbs the following 

 are the most abundant — Zantlioxylum alatum, Skimmia Laureola, 

 Prunus Padus, Viburnum cotinifolium, Celastruspaniculata, various 

 species of Pubns, with miles of hill-sides covered with Rosa rnos- 

 chata and Clematis Buchananiana. At the same time various 

 species of Herberts fill up the bushy character of a large portion 

 of this region. It is in fact only in the dark shady tributary val- 

 leys that arboreous vegetation seems able to exist ; and up these 

 damp and verdant glens many interesting herbaceous plants may- 

 be gathered. The bright blue clusters of Delphinium denudatum, 

 mingling with various species of Potent ilia, Ranunculus, three op 

 four species of Hypericum, Geranium, Balsam, Spircea, and many- 

 others, make these charming shady places of peculiar interest.. 

 The scarcity, however, of epiphytal and parasitical plants is very 

 Btriking, and tends largely to deepen the impression that the 

 Western Himalayas, as compared with the Eastern, are much more 

 Siberian in theic character. This must be accounted for by the 

 limited amount of rainfall and humidity in the west. At about- 

 7000 to 8000 feet pine and cedar forests commence, and with these 

 a great increase of herbaceous vegetation, chiefly Ranunculaceae, 

 Cruciferse, Caryophyllacese, Leguminosre and Rosacea?, but parti- 



