STROBILANTHES 695 



T. And,, and S. divaricatus, T. And. The former is a large shrub, attaming 

 a height of 10 ft. and a girth of 9 in. or sometimes more ; its flowering period is 

 twelve years (recorded 1890, 1902). In the western Himalaya, S. alatus, Nees, 

 and 8. Dalhousianus, Clarke, are common non-gregarious species of little 

 silvicultural importance, which flower every year. The important species of 

 this region is *S^. Wallichii, Nees (with 8. atropurpureus, Nees, which is possibly 

 not a distinct species). This plant, known in Jaunsar a,s jhanu, grows gregari- 

 ously, forming a dense carpet in the oak and fir woods at 7,000-10,000 ft., 

 and preventing by its thick mass of roots and stems the establishment of 

 natural reproduction of tree species ; the results of experiments in eradicating 

 it are described below. This plant flowers and dies at intervals of twelve 

 years (recorded 1882, 1894, 1906, 1918). Its mode of growth is pecuHar, 

 though possibly that of other species may be similar. Each year a new shoot 

 consisting of several internodes is sent up in the spring, but at the end of the 

 season the whole of the year's shoot drops off except the lowest internode of 

 the year, so that the age of a plant can at any time be told by counting the 

 number of old internodes. 



In the Western Ghats from Bombay southwards there are several impor- 

 tant species. Talbot enumerates thirteen species in the Bombay Presidency, 

 of which one, 8. caUosus, Nees, is common on laterite or hard rocky ground, 

 and extends to comparatively dry trap regions of the Satj)uras in Khandesh 

 and Central India. This species, known in Bombay as karvi, flowers at intervals 

 of seven or eight years ; its stems are used with mud plaster for walls of huts, 

 and when it flowers and dies the dry stems are largely collected for fuel. Of 

 other gregarious species of the Western Ghats, which are said to flower at 

 intervals of about seven years, may be mentioned 8. reticulatus, Stapf (vern. 

 akra), 8. barbatus, Nees, 8. sessilis, Nees (flowers every seven or fifteen yesivs ?), 

 and 8. perfoUatus, T. And. 



In Burma there are species which form a dense undergrowth in teak 

 forests, hindering reproduction. Mr. C. W. A. Bruce ^ describes the gregarious 

 flowering of 8. rufescens in the teak forests of the Upper Chindwin district. 

 This plant is said to flower once in six years, when it clothes the forest under- 

 growth with masses of strongly-smelling blue flowers which attract innumer- 

 able bees ; the flowering was observed in March, the plants seeded early in 

 April, and the dead stems acted as a protection against fire, no doubt because 

 they had killed out the grass and weeds and were themselves less inflammable 

 than these. 



The silvicultural importance of the gregarious members of this genus lies 

 in their effect on the natural reproduction of tree species, and it will be useful 

 to consider the results of efforts made to eradicate them. It does not always 

 follow, however, that it is necessary or even advisable to eradicate the plant, 

 for, in the case of the larger species at all events, it may afford a useful shelter 

 to shade-bearing tree species in early youth, and its eradication may result in 

 tlie entry of weeds of a more noxious description. The eradication of 8. 

 Wallichii, Nees, has been carried out experimentally from time to time at 

 Deoban, near Chakrata, in the western Himalaya, where it exists as a dense 

 carpet under Qnercus semecarpifoUa, and prevents seedlings of that species 



1 Ind. Forester, xxi (1895), p. 47. 



