riiEFACE. vii 



I'he liigLest hill in the Bombay Presidency (excei)t the Kirthar iiioun- 

 lains) is a peak in the Decean rising to 5427 feet above the sea. 



The rainfall varies in the Bombay Presidency from 3 or 4 inches, or 

 even less in the almost rainless districts of Sind, to upwards of 300 inches 

 on the Western Ghtits. The average annual rainfall of some of the 

 most important stations is as follows (neglecting decimals) : — 



111. 



Jacobabad (Siucl) 4 



Karachi 7 



Poona 28 



Earoda 39 



Belgaum 49 



Bombay 80 



Karwar 116 



Lanoli 165 



Matheran 242 



Mabableshwar 2Go 



U]uler such divei'se conditions of elevation and rainfall the climate is 

 naturally variable, being excessively humid in some regions and intensely 

 arid in others, while, as a matter of course, the character of the vegeta- 

 tion varies \^ ith the climatic conditions, Por example, in the exceptionally 

 arid climate of Sind plants occur which do not appear else« here in India, 

 and a very large proportion of the Sind vegetation consists of plants 

 \^ hich are indigenous in Africa. 



The earliest essay at a Plora of Bombay was that of Mr. John Graham, 

 Deputy Postmaster General, who published in 1839 a Catalogue of the 

 plants grown in Bombay and its vicinity. Graham died at the early age 

 of 34, before the ^^•ork was entirely completed, and its final 50 pages 

 were carried through the press by Mr. Nimmo. Although a mere list, 

 as its title implies, for no descriptions of the plants enumerated are 

 given which is much to be regretted, still the work is excellent as far as 

 it goes, and gives, what is most valuable in a work of the kind, the 

 localities from which the several plants were obtained. Considering the 

 means of communication that existed at the time, for there were no 

 railways, and travelling was difficult and tedious, one cannot help being 

 struck with admiration at the number of plants brought together in this 

 Catalogue, all of which were, as Mr. Graham states, personally examined 

 either by himself or by Mr. Nimmo, and most of which were correctly 

 named. 



The next work was the ' Bombay Plora ' (published in 1801) by two 

 well-known botanists, Dalzell and Gibson. The descriptions are somewhat 

 meagre and no distinguishing characters are given of Orders and Genera, 

 an omission which has made the work less useful to the student of Indian 

 botany than it might otherwise have been. 



