GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE FLORA, 



white stem and large coriaceous leaves, covered with & 

 resinous varnish while young. 



Gardenia guru mif era has polished coriaceous leaves, also 

 varnished while young, and its buds are protected by a large 

 drop of resin. It and Gardenia turgida, one form of which i 8 

 covered with strong opposite and decussate spines, has also a 

 white bark. Ficus infectoria (wild form), P. glabella, and 

 F. tomentoaa are all rock-loving species and often markedly 

 xerophilous in structure. The leaves of F. tomentosa are 

 covered with a dense felt of hairs. It may be seen growing 

 freely on the old Palamau fort, the ruin of which it is helping 

 to complete. 



The most arid tract is in the extreme north-west o 

 Palamau, which in addition to its being furthest from the 

 moist winds of the Bay of Bengal, is exposed to a very dry wind 

 which blows down the Sone valley. It is characterized by 

 Capparis sepiaria, Hardwickia binata, and Balanites, plants 

 common nowhere else in our area. South and east the 

 country gradually becomes somewhaj more humid. The most 

 humid tracts are found in the deep valleys of the south-west 

 of Singbhum, due apparently to the extensive clothing of 

 vegetation, and again in the northern and north-eastern 

 Santal Parganahs, due to the proximity of the Gangetic 

 valley and the moist winds from the Bay. 1 



The increase in humidity is very marked in marching 

 from Dumka northwards through the Santal Parganahs, and 

 a number of plants re-appear which have only been elsewhere 

 met with in the Saranda tract of Singbhum. Others are 

 confined to the SaDtal Parganahs district, so far as Chota 

 Nagpur is concerned, and belong rather to Bengal proper, 

 Assam and the Sub-Himalayan region. The flora of the 

 Rajmehal Hills must indeed, at one time, have been wonder- 

 fully rich, though now disappearing through the destructioa 

 of the forests. A number of plants, again, are found in the 



1 Cp. Climate, pp. 23 to 25. 

 23 



