186 OUTLINE OF PLANT GEOGRAPHY 



The Western Ghats 



The Western Ghats descend by a series of terraces to the coast, 

 and these slopes, and the coastal strip below, get the full benefit 

 of the southwest monsoon, and the dry season is much less pro- 

 nounced than in the interior of the country. The whole coast 

 line, as far north as Bombay, is clothed with luxuriant evergreen 

 forest, and presents a marked contrast to the barren shores of 

 northwest India. 



These evergreen forests have much in common with the rain- 

 forests of eastern Bengal and Assam, but many of the Malayan 

 species are wanting and there is an admixture of African types. 

 The tropical character of the vegetation becomes still more 

 pronounced toward the south, where the flora is much like that 

 of Ceylon. 



Descending on the east to the Deccan plateau, much drier 

 conditions prevail. This is especially marked close to the eastern 

 slope of the mountains, as the rains pass over the crest and fall 

 some distance inland. 



Between Bombay and Poona, on the eastern side of the Western 

 Ghats, the lowlands are very productive, rice and other tropical 

 crops growing luxuriantly, and a profusion of palms of several 

 species, evergreen figs, bamboos, and other luxuriant vegetation, 

 forming a characteristic tropical landscape. 



Further south the interior country is much drier, and where the 

 forest still remains, as in the gorges on the flanks of the mountains, 

 the trees are mostly deciduous in the dry season. Some of these 

 trees are of great value as timber, among them being the "sal," 

 already referred to, and the very important teak (Tectona grandis). 

 The open country is too dry for a true forest, but there are many 

 species of shrubs and small trees, many of which are also common 

 to the dry northwestern provinces. 



Passing from the rich evergreen forests of the seaward side of 

 the Western Ghats, and descending to the dry plain of the Deccan, 

 there is a transition first through a moist deciduous forest to a 

 dry open forest which gradually passes into the thorny scrub of 

 the Deccan. 



On the eastern shore of the Peninusla which gets rain from the 

 northwest monsoon from the Bay of Bengal, there is nearly ever- 



