BOOKS AND CURRENT LITERATURE 187 



angustata dominates one association, Andropogon squarrosus another; 

 while still other associations are those of Cyperus laevigatus, Herpestis 

 monniera, Sporobolu.s tremulus, Eleocharis plantiganea. A "dried mud 

 formation" exists around water-hol(>s where there is much tramping 

 of cattle and wallowing of buffaloes. The plants are mostly pros- 

 trate with long tap roots, and include species of Polygonum, Mollugo, 

 Coldenia (Boraginaceae), Euphorbia, Gnapkalium, Heliolropium and 

 frigoncUa. 



Halophytic Associations, the authors state, have been only inade- 

 quately studied. There is a sort of halophytic savanna near the coast 

 in which the most prominent shrubs are Indigofera pauciflora, an 

 Acacia, and Sueda nudiflora. Grasses fill in the interspaces. Areas of 

 halophytic semi-desert occur inland near Prantij where, during the 

 dry period there is little to be seen but a white efflorescence on the 

 soil. During the monsoon and early autumn a weak growth develops 

 of Sporobolus orientalis, Chloris villosa, Eleusine aegyptica, Diplachne 

 fusca and Fimbrystilis spathacea. 



Lithophytes are represented by an association on the city walls of 

 Ahmedabad comprising Lindbergia urticceJoUa (Scrophulariacese), Lin- 

 aria ramosissima, and the following grasses: Eragrostis tenella, Ar- 

 thaxon microphyllus, Aristida adsenscionis, and Andropogon contortus. 



Mesophytic Associations are met with only in irrigated situations 

 and are chiefly "weeds of cultivation" and "hedge plants." There 

 are two distinct floras, one developing in the period of the monsoon, the 

 other in winter. This latter has a number of species familiar to bot- 

 anists of temperate regions: Chenopodium album, Asphodelus tenui- 

 folius, Gynandropsis pentaphylla, Melilotus indica. Datura fatsuosa, 

 Argemone mexicana, Anagallis arvensis, Foeniculum vulgare, Saponaria 

 vaccaria, Convolvulus arvensis. 



The total number of species and varieties of flowering plants recog- 

 nized in the area is 614. The paucity of species is, of course, an ex- 

 pression of the unfavorable climatic and edaphic conditions. Grasses 

 and sedges comprise about one-fourth of the total flora, being repre- 

 sented by 103 and 45 species respectively. It is interesting to note 

 that of the sedges the largest genus is Cyperus with 20 species while 

 Carex is entirely absent. Panicum, Eragrostis and Andropogon are 

 the large genera of grasses; Poa is unrepresented. Among dicotyle- 

 dons the large families with the number of species in each are as follows : 

 Leguminosse (83), Convolvulacess (24), Compositiae (23), Euphorbi- 

 acese (23), Acanthaceae (21), Malvaceae (20), Scrophulariacese (13), 



