at considerable elevations in the Himalaya. 3-19 



banana) is indigenous and abundant at a considei*able elevation 

 (7000 feet) in the eastern Himalaya north of Assam, and nearly 

 to the same level in Sikkim : I have observed it only in one spot 

 in Keraaon, the Bylchheena Pass, at about 4000 feet elevation, 

 and was told that it occurred much more abundantly at a short 

 distance, in the valley of the Kalee ; but as I had not time to 

 verify the report, it need not be more than thus briefly alluded 

 to*. 



There is however one more genus of the Monocotyledones, 

 and allied to the Palms, worthy of introduction here, from the 

 very great elevation to which it reaches in the Himalaya, and 

 from its affinity and resemblance to the tropical genus Bambusa ; 

 I allude to the genus Arundinaria of the section Bambusidse, of 

 which at least four very distinct species occur in the Himalaya, 

 and which have been referred to a new genus {Thamnocalamus) by 

 my friend Dr. Falconer. They are familiarly known to European 

 residents in the mountains as the " hill bamboo," and to the 

 mountaineers of Gurhwal as the " Ringal," altered to " Ningala " 

 in Keraaon. Of these, the lowest species in the vertical section is 

 Arundinaria falcata, growing from 3500 to 8500 feet, and, like 

 the rest, forming extensive and close thickets. The second is 

 the Arundinaria utilis of Mr. Edgeworth, the Deo Ningala (or 

 divine Ningala) of the natives, occurring from 7000 to 9000 feet. 

 The third is variously named Geewasa, Purkha, Jhoomra, Suiura 

 (Jurboota in Nepal, where all these species are also found) ; 

 I am not aware that this is yet described ; but its principal dif- 

 ference from the next is that the stems are solitary, not in clumps : 

 it occurs from 7000 to 10,000 feet. The fourth species is the 

 Tham, in Nepal Khaptur, also un described, at least unpublished, 

 which has its zone from 8500 to 11,500 feet; only 500 feet, or 

 less, below the inferior limit of the pei-petual ice of the glaciers, 



Kiangnan, where the winters are excessively cold. Plants sent to Kevv in 

 1848 have " braved unharmed, and unprotected by any sort of covering, the 

 severe winter now passed, 1849-1850" (Bot. Mag. Mai-ch 1850, quoted 

 in Proceechngs of Bot. Soc. May 13, 1852). If this be Ch. Martiana, it 

 proves the great extension and hardiness of that species ; if diflFerent, it 

 affords an additional corroboration of the line of argument adopted in the 

 text. 



* I am not aware of the exact locality in Nepal of the arborescent fern, 

 Alsophila gigavtea, but near Darjeeling in Sikkim, immediately to the east 

 of that countiy. Dr. Hooker states that it flourishes between 4()00 and 7000 

 feet above the sea ; 6500 being there the upper limit of the palms ; a sjie- 

 cies of Caryota reaching up to 6000, and Calamus as high, forty miles 

 within the mountains ; while Pothos, Musa, Ficus, Piper have species from 

 2000 to 7000 feet, and Ficus one species to 9500. But in the humid 

 equable climates of the southern hemisphere, Australia, New Zealand, Tas- 

 mania, the arborescent ferns reach a much higher parallel of latitude, and 

 attain the height of 40-50 feet. 



