42 THE JOUENAL OF INDIAN BOTANY. 



leaflets which also serves the same purpose as above, e.g. Nos. 1, 7, 

 8, 9, 10, 24, 25, 26, 27. Some plants again are more or less hairy 

 and protected from the scorching sun, e.g. Nos. 2, 5, 11, 13, 14, 24, 

 29, 35, 37. Some have got rather thickish leaves which are well 

 protected against loss of water, e.g. Nos. 12, 19, 21, 33 and 36. 

 Some plants again are protected from desiccation by having in their 

 tissues latex or a kind of milky juice, e.g. Nos. 29, 36. Nos. 12 and 36 

 seem also to contain some water storage tissue. No. 36 again has 

 palisade tissue on both sides of the leaf. As regards the herbaceous 

 plants, most of them also are more or less hairy, Nos. 41, 42, 44, 47, 

 49 and 50 being more particularly so. Such of them as are not at all 

 hairy are only Nos. 43 and 46. The young leaves of No. 51 are 

 puberulous though later on many of the hairs drop off. No. 43 has 

 very small and somewhat wrinkled leaves while Nos. 46 and 51 have 

 leaves which are inclined to be somewhat fleshy. 



It is needless to say that several of these plants also show a great 

 reduction in size under the abnormally dry conditions. 



The number of grasses found actually living is disappointing but 

 it indicates Andropogon monticola Schult., and possibly Ischaemum 

 pilosam Hack, to be the most resistant to drought of the common 

 grasses of the Deccan, the former occurring in murum soils, the latter 

 in black soils. Andropogon annulatus, Forsk. and Andropogon pertu- 

 sus Willd. were found to be green and in flower in a small patch at 

 Parner, but their greenness was probably due to some rain which had 

 fallen at Parner a few days previously. 



The list of plants observed is not quite exhaustive since it was 

 not possible to note each and every species in such a short time. 

 The list is however fairly representative of the tract at the given time, 

 though in a normal year perhaps it would have been possible to find 

 many more species which were unable to survive this year. 



The summary of observations shows rather clearly that beyond 

 the average fluctuations in the characters of the various plants found 

 living we do not find any great deviations even in such abnormal 

 years. 



It may be mentioned here that the enquiry which was perhaps 

 the first of its kind on this side of the Bombay Presidency was under- 

 taken solely at the suggestion of Dr. H. H. Mann the present head of 

 the Bombay Agricultural Department to whom I feel greatly indebted. 



