PYRUS 491 



they are conspicuous on the leafless trees during the earlier part of the winter. 

 The fruits are left untouched by birds, though sometimes eaten by monkeys, 

 until they become over-ripe, in which condition they are eagerly devoured by 

 birds, including crows, which visit the leafless trees in winter, testing each 

 fruit and eating those which have become soft and leaving those which have 

 not yet reached this condition ; in this way the seeds are scattered. 



Gamble notes that the leaves are attacked by the fungus Gymnosporangium 

 Cunning JM7nia7ium, BarcL, whose alternate generation is on the Himalaj'an 

 cypress, and that another species is also found on it, G. clavariaeforme, Jacq., 

 whose alternate generation is probably on the juniper. 



The growth is moderate. Gambles specimens showed 8 rings per inch 

 of radius, or a mean annual girth increment of 0-78 in. A cross-section 

 2 ft. 10 in. in girth in the silvicultural museum at Dehra Dun had 31 rings, 

 giving a mean annual girth increment of 1-1 in. 



ORDER XXV. HAMAMELIDACEAE 

 Genera 1. Bucklandia, R. Br.; 2. Parrotia, C. A. Meyer. 



1. BUCKLANDIA, R. Br. 



Bucklandia populnea, R. Br. Vern. Pipli, E. Him. 



A tall handsome evergreen tree with cordate shining coriaceous leaves 

 and thick fleshy stipules. Bark of poles blackish and slightly rough, that of 

 old trees reddish brown and deeply furrowed. The bole is long but seldom 

 entirely free from side branches, and the crown is dense and spreading ; poles 

 grown in the open are pyramidal in shape, and often have several leading 

 shoots. The tree reaches very large dimensions, attaining a height up to 

 140 to 150 ft. Mr. H. S. Gibson records a tree 22 ft. 6 in. in girth (see Fig. 186) ; 

 the largest apparently sound stem measured by him was 17 ft. in girth. 



This is one of the most valuable trees of the Darjeeling hills, with a reddish 

 brown durable wood used for planking, flooring, door and window frames, 

 and many other purposes. It is one of the best trees for afforestation and 

 for the protection of hill slopes liable to landslips ; it is also an excellent 

 soil-improver. It was at one time so extensively cut out in the Darjeeling 

 forests that there are now very few large trees left, and the timber seldom 

 comes on to the market ; it is, however, being extensively planted. 



Distribution and habitat. The eastern Himalaya, Khasi hills, Manipur, 

 and the hills oi Martaban. In the Darjeeling hills it is found between 3,000 

 and 8,000 ft., but thrives best between 4,000 and 6,500 ft. The climate here 

 is moist, the normal rainfall being about 120 to 160 in. The tree is found 

 on various aspects ; a northerly aspect suits it best, no doubt owing to 

 favourable conditions of soil moisture, but plantations on southerly dry slopes 

 have succeeded well, showing thati- it is adaptable. It prefers a thoroughly 

 moist sandy loam, though it does well on clayey soils, and is not exacting : 

 it grows better in depressions than on ridges. The tree grows in mixture with 

 other species of the Darjeeling hills, but has a great tendency to regenerate 

 on newly exposed ground on landslips and similar places, where it often forms 



