6 IIIXATION BETWEEN CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 



to describe the numerous purposes to which the various species, 

 even in Sikkim, are put. 



Gordonia is here common ( G. Wallicliii ?) ; it is an erect 

 and handsome tree, much prized in all parts of the Himalaya, 

 and universally adopted for ploughshares and other purposes 

 requiring a hard wood : it is the " Sing-brang-kun " of the 

 Lepchas, and ascends to 4000 feet. In very dry soils it is 

 replaced by "Sal" (Valeria ro&M*^a), and occasionally by the 

 Pi7ms lotigifolia. 



" Toon "'( Cedrela tootia), " Simalkun " (Lepcha), and another 

 species (probably C. serrata, Royle), accompany the Gordonia, 

 as do Engelhardtia (which ascends to 6000 feet), and several 

 leguminous trees, Acacice, Dalbergia, Terminalia, and a So7i- 

 neratia. Oaks at this elevation occur as solitary trees, of species 

 different from those of Darjiling. There are three or four with 

 a cup-shaped involucre, and three with spinous involucres en- 

 closing the nut ; these generally grow on a dry clayey soil. 



Phyllatithiis emblica, Grislea, Symplocos, and other small 

 trees and bushes of the plains, occupy the more open spaces near 

 the streams. Cucurhitacece, Marlea, and scandent Legiiminosce 

 skirt the forest. Fici and Chloranthus with Ferns inhabit 

 rocky places, and an amaranthaceous plant climbs over the 

 loftiest trees ; its abundant inflorescence, like hops, whiten the 

 forest in some places. Sterculice, of two species, are common, 

 as is Pcederia fcetida, which, as well as many Cucurhitacece, 

 peppers, Gnetum, Porana, a few other Co7ivolvulace(B, and many 

 Asclepiadeee, Hoi/a, &c., climb high. 



Though the temperature of the air was only 77° at noon, 

 these valleys are close and oppressively hot : the streams small 

 and varying in temperature, according to the exposure of their 

 banks ; that of the first we crossed was 70°. 



Some low steep spurs were well cultivated, though the angle 

 of the field was upvvards of 25° : the crops, chiefly maize, now 

 sprouting. This plant is occasionally hermaphrodite in Sikkim, 

 the bisexual flowers forming a large drooping panicle and ripen- 

 ing small grains ; it is, however, a rare occurrence, and the 

 specin)ens are highly valued by the people. 



On the ridge a " Seraul " tree (£o?nbax) grows, at upwards of 

 3000 feet : it is rare at this elevation, or anywhere else upon 

 the mountains. MusscE?ida is conspicuous for its white calycine 

 leaves. A Lysimachia, very like the L. nemorum of Europe, 

 grew beneath it. 



Descending to another stream, the path led through a low 

 dense jungle of bamboo and figs * of several species. Indeed, 



* One species of this very tropical genus ascends almost to 9000 feet on 

 the outer range of Sikkim. 



