PIERIS 635 



leaves sometimes tmning dark red in autumii ; leaves gradually increase in 

 size from second season onwards, becoming elliptical, coriaceous, entire, the 

 upper surface and margins still covered with stiff glandular hairs, at any rate 

 on young leaves, for the first three or four years. 



During the first season the seedling is minute, reaching a height of 

 scarcely 0-1 in., with 2 or 3 foliage leaves besides the cotyledons. For the 

 first few years the growth is very slow. The seedling is very sensitive to 

 drought, and survives in moist well-drained places., such as damp shady banks, 

 cuttings, and rocks. 



SiLVicuLTURAL CHARACTERS. The tree stands a fair amount of shade, 

 but develops best in the open. It will grow on rocky ground provided there 

 is sufficient soil moisture, but thrives best on moist loam. It coppices well. 



Natural reproduction. Natural reproduction springs up readily on 

 newly exposed ground such as road-cuttings and landslips and in the crevices 

 of bare rocks. In such places seedlings of various ages may often be found in 

 large quantities provided the soil is moist : natural reproduction does not 

 appear in dry places, as the seedlings perish quickly from drought. 



Artificial reproduction. Seedlings may be raised artificially by sowing 

 seed in March or April in boxes or pots filled with fine sand or powdered 

 brick previously soaked with water ; the seeds should not be covered. The 

 boxes or pots should be sheltered from rain and sun and watered regularly. 

 The seedlings may be pricked out, if large enough, in the second season, and 

 kept in the nursery until sufficiently large to plant out. 



A more satisfactory method of planting is to dig up seedhngs from the 

 banks and cuttings on which they spring up naturally and transfer them to 

 the nursery, keeping them there until large enough to plant out. 



Rate of growth. The annual rings are not always distinct, but where 

 visible they show a slow rate of growth. Brandis gives 14 rings per inch 

 of radius, while Gamble's specimens varied from 12 rings in the western 

 Himalaya and the Nilgiris to as many as 36 in Sikkim, representing a mean 

 annual girth increment varying from 0-17 to 0-52 in. 



Coppice growth, though usually faster for a time than that of Quercus 

 incana, is slow. Measurements made in 1911 in a coppice coupe six years old 

 at BhowaH near Naini Tal (elevation 5.600 ft.) showed an average of 5 shoots 

 per stool and a mean height of 4 ft. 4 in. 



2. PIERIS, D. Don. 



Pieris ovalifolia, D. Don. Syn. Andromeda ovalifolia, Wall. Vern. Ayar, 



Hind. ; Allan, Pb. 



A small deciduous tree. Bark brown, thick, fibrous, exfohating in long 

 narrow strips, deeply furrowed longitudinally, the furrows often proceeding 

 spirally up the stem. This is a familiar tree in the western Himalaya at 

 4,000-8,000 ft., chiefly on grassy slopes in association with Quercus incayia and 

 Rhododendron arbor eum, or at the lower elevations with Pinus longifolia. In 

 Hazara it is rare except in the Pinus longifolia forests of the Siran valley, 

 where it is fairly common at 4,000 ft. and upwards. It is also found in the 

 eastern Himalaya, descending to 2,000 ft. in the Tista valley, the Khasi hills, 

 and the hills of Burma. The wood is of little value either as timber or as fuel. 



