BOTAXV. 9 



7000 foet elevation. Eamlioo is still repicsentod by a berry -bearing half-scanileiit 

 kind {Pseudvstuchijuin glumerijiorum), and liigliiT up a small Arundinaria foi-ms 

 a veiy dense undergrowth, especially above GOOO feet elevation. The ground is 

 clothed with grass and lierbs wherever light has free acecss. Brackes [PUris aquilhia) 

 Jiubiis, Gentians, Galium Saussurea, Giuiphaliuni and Anaphiilix, Sun-dew, Lobelia 

 Senecio, liuphurum, and some other timbellifers arc some of the European plants 

 which grow rather profusely on the pastures that occujjy the exposed shapes. One or 

 two violets, too, are f'reijuently met with along streams in the vallej's. Epiphytes, 

 orchids, as well as ferns, Ci/rtandracece, etc., interwoven with mosses and lichens, 

 clothe the branches. 



Along the more exposed ridges and unfavourably exposed slopes these forests 

 become quite stunted, and the tree stems gnarled, and form then the class callid 

 Stunted Hill Forests. They form the upper limit of the hill forests in Burma, where 

 (for exam])lc, below the top of the Xattoung) the iVi'umlinarias and llhododendruus 

 become quite dwarfed and reduced. 



Pine Forests. 



The pine forests are either quite or nearly free of leafed trees, but the gullies 

 and valleys that intersect them are usually more or less taken up by drier hill forests, 

 or both pines and leafed trees are intermixed. They consist entirely of Tyn-yu 

 (Pi/iits luiHi/a^, and occupy the hilly parts of the Lushai country, Ujjper Ava and 

 Martaban. The lowest limit to which they descend is about 3500 feet. In Upjier 

 Tenasserim another pine makes its appearance, viz. Piinis Jfcrhisii, which occurs 

 chiefly on the sandstone hills of the Thoung-gyeen, in Upper Tenasserim, and 

 reappears again on the hills of Sutnatra. Forests of this pine are found at such low 

 levels as 1500 feet, and single trees are localh- found at only 500 feet elevation. 



I!.— DECIDUOUS OR LEAF-SHEDDIXU FOllESTS. 



From a general point of view the deciduous forests di\-ide into two largo 

 classes. The first ono consists of trees which shed their leaves by the intluence of 

 cidd, and are therefore leafless during the winter or cold season. But here again we 

 have to distinguish between winter deciduous trees, i.e. trees which grow in regions 

 or zones where snow falls, and cold season shedders, which are not subjected to the 

 influence of a severe winter cold, but, for some reason or other, shed their leaves after 

 tlic rains instead at the beginning of the hot season. This latter sort of tree occurs 

 also in Burma, but these are here very subordinately dispersed through the forests. 

 The second ])rincipal cla.ss of deciduous forests is composed of trees that shed their 

 leaves on account of the drvness and excessive summer heat. It is with this class of 

 forest that the forester in Burma has chiefly to do, for the most important timber trees 

 are found in them. The variety of trees in all these forests is so much less than in 

 the evergreen forests that it is more easy to master their constituents and to detinc 

 their peculiarities. 



Y. Ol'ES FoRKSTS. 



The open forests are restricted to the newer and low level or older ami high 

 level alluvium, and occur more especially on laterite, or soil of a lateritic character. 

 Tho.se growing in the hills show a transition to the drier hill forest ; indeed, grow 

 sometimes intermixed with them, especially when occupying the debris of meta- 

 moq)hic rocks, as is tlio case on the ilartaban hills. Those growing on stiff clay and 

 loam similarly blend with the lower mixed forests along the line of their contact. 

 In their typical form, as Eng forest they occupy a lateritic or sandy area, and form 

 a very marked vegetation. I distinguish therefore three varieties. 



1. E>i(/ or Laterite Forests. 



The principal constituents of this forest are Byu {Dillenia pulctifrrima), Thi ya 

 {Shorea ohtusa), Eng-jyn {Peiilacme ISiamensis), Jio-bo ( Walsura villosa), ilun-deing 



