CURRENT LITERATURE. 93 



of cooler climates. Among the latter are species of Ranunculus, Fumaria, 

 Lathyrits, Draba, Tamarix, Astragalus, Vicia, Primus, Bupleurum, Carduus, Olea, 

 Antirrhinum, Linaria, Plantago, Euphorbia^Salix, Populus, and Asphodelus; 

 many of them by the same species as occur in Europe. Among genera and 

 species common in South India are Cleome, Camparis, including (C. aphylla 

 Roth which occurs in Tinnevelly), Tribulus, Citrus medica (orange), Gymno, 

 sporia montana Benth. , Zizyphus jujuba Lam., Dodonosa viscosah., Desmodium, 

 Terminalia Catappa, L., Eugenia jambolana Lam., Launcea, Tylophora, Cordia 

 myxa L., PLeliotropiun, Trichodesma, Solatium nigrum L., Sesarnum indicum D.C., 

 Ocimum basilicum L., JErua. lanala Juss., Aristida, and several others. Many 

 of the common species are no doubt cultivated, for the sake of their edible 

 fruits or their use for pot-herbs! but apart from them it is clear that, though 

 the species are different, there is a good deal of affinity in the genera, 

 between the Persian Baluchistan and the drier parts of the Carnatic. The 

 temperate genera and species, it will be noticed, are mostly herbs and without 

 doubt belong to the cool winter months. 



P. F. F. 



Flora of Northern Gujarat. 



W, T. Saxton, m.a., f.l.s., i.e.s, I.A.R.O., and L. J Sedgwick, b.a., 

 f.l.s., I.C.S., Plants of Northern Guzarat. — -Becords of the Botanical 

 Survey of India, Vol. VI, No. 7. 



Though published in 1918, this monograph was written in 1914-15. As the 

 authors explain, it deals with only a small fraction of Northern Gujarat, 

 namely, the immediate neighbourhood of Ahmedabad, and the taluks of 

 Prantij and Modasa, which lie to the north-east of that city. These taluks 

 touch the fringe of the great Malwa forest region. Kharagoda on the Rann 

 of Cutch has been included on the strength of one visit, and this has resulted 

 in the inclusion of some of the halophytes of the Rann, with the inevitable 

 omission of others, and excludes the possibility of a full discussion of the flora 

 of that interesting region. 



The work is divided into three parts, viz., Parti — Descriptive and Analy- 

 tical, Part II — CEcology, and Part III — Flora. As described in the firit part 

 the area worked includes the pure sand tracts round Ahmedabad, some black 

 soil tracts in Modasa, and the stony hills near Modasa where the Malwa 

 forests begin. The main interest of this part of the work is that it brings out 

 how the Perso-Arabian flora and the Indo-Malayan flora meet in Gujarat. 

 On the whole the character of the flora of the sand tracts is essentially Perso- 

 Arabian. The Perso-Arabian plants mentioned on page 216 are, as the floral 

 part shows, denizens of the sand region ; while the Indo-Malayan plants 

 listed on the same page are similarly seen to be mainly denizens of the Malwa 

 forest system. The line dividing the two great floras is, therefore, fairly 

 definite, and could be ultimately plotted on a floral map of Asia. Apart from 

 the presence of Perso-Arabian plants the total absence of many of the 

 important Indo-Malayan families and genera is significant. For instance, 

 there is not a single Orchid, Aroid, Amaryllid or Ginger, nor any species of 

 StrobiIanth.es, Dalbergia, Hedyotis, Anotis, Flemingia, Smithia, Impatiens, 

 Arundinella and a host of other typically Indo-Malayan genera. The flora is 

 essentially a xerophytic one, with the addition of an important swamp flora 

 typical of Indian marshes and tanks. In fact this swamp-flora and a handful 



