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tic trees here are Sonnemtia apetala and Avicennia tomentosn, forming nearly one-third of their 

 entire bulk. According as the one or the other of these two trees prevails, we see these forests 

 assuming a rather willow-like appearance, with drooping branches and lax linear foliage of a 

 light greyish green color ; or low jungles present themselves of a mean height hardly exceeding 

 25 to 40 feet with a broad dull green foliage collected into dense almost spherical crowns. 



The other trees and shrubs that are associated with the above trees are, for the great part, 

 the same as those in the mangrove jungles. These are especially : Sonneratia acida and S. 

 Oriffithii, Aegiceras conikulala, Kandvlia Rhcedei, Hibiscus ti/iaceus, Thespesia populnea, Heri- 

 tiera littoralis and H. minor, Pavetta nir/ricans, Pongamia glabra, Tainarix Indica, Clerodendron 

 inerme, Excoecaria Agallocha, Pluchea Indica, Lnmnitzera racemosa, Salacia prinoides, Antidesma 

 Ghaesembilla and A. diaiulrum, Glochidion multiloculare, Erythrina ovaHfoUa, Dalbergia mono- 

 sperma, Pandanus foeHdus, Brownlowia lanceolata, Ficus cordifolia, Cerbera Odallam (usually oa 

 rocky ground), Cordia myxa, Aegialitis animlata, Bregma rhamnoides, and, strange to say, 

 sometimes Salix tetrasperma. 



Of creepers "id climbers are chiefly seen : Acanthus volubilis, Flagellaria Indica, Derris 

 scandens and D. u/iginosa, Finlaysonia obovata, Pentatropis, Sarcolobus, and such like. 



Nipa fruticans and Panda niis foetidus form often dense bushes in certain localities, while 

 Phoenix pahidosa is very frequent, generally forming dense, almost impenetrable patches of 

 jungle (similar to those of Calamus arborescens further inland), which look very attractive on 

 account of the numerous large bunches of red fruit that contrast beautifully with the glossy 

 dark or yellowish green foliage. 



On the muddy ground are found Acrostichtim aureum in abundance, Wollastonia biflora, 

 Wedelia. calendulacea , Acanthus ilicifolius, Malucochaete pectinata, Leptochloa Wightii, one or two 

 species of stiff Fimbristylis, a Phragmites, Eragrostis procera, coarse Cyjieri, like G. procerus, 

 canescens, incurvus, nrticulatus, and especially G. mucronatus, Sesuvmm portulacastrum. Alter- 

 nanihera sessilis, Suaeda fruticosa. 



Only a few species of ferns and orchids are observed on trees, although they are not scanty 

 in individuals. Polypodium quercifolium is amongst them the most conspicuous one. Also 

 Hoy a and Dischidia are rarely missed. Cassytha filiformis is most abundant, often completely 

 covering the shrubs with its yellow or green, smooth, thread-like stems. 



On deep alluvium (as in the Sittang Delta), these forests gradually merge into savan- 

 nahs. Where diluvial formations protrude, as is frequently the case in the Irrawaddi Delta, 

 they are more or less abruptly bordered by lower mixed forests or moist forests. Oa 

 the higher situated grounds these tidal forests change into a peculiar kind of forest, which I 

 had no opportunity to explore properly. In such are represented Bambussa spinosa, Zizyphus 

 (enoplia, Ichnocarpus frulescens, Albizzia elata, Ficus cordifolia and F. nitida, Strcblus aspera, 

 Cassia Fistula, Olux scandens, Barringtonia racemosa, Sfc, thus forming a kind of savannah 

 forest, but differing iu aspect from the true mixed forests. 



2. Swamp Forests. 



The swamp forests are probably the most curious forests in Burma, and to a botanist 

 they are of high interest. In fact, their constituents are so dissimilar to those of the surround- 

 ing forests, that one must necessarily ask, how all these trees come here ? The greater 

 part of them do not occur anywhere but in swamps or similar watery places, and they over- 

 leap large tracts of country to reappear again in analogous places adapted for their growth. 

 They might be called the mangrove forests of the fresh waters, the ground being almost aa 

 exposed and swampy as that of the mangrove swamps. 



Whether the swamp forests are properly classed by me among evergreen forests, is still 

 an open question, for Captain Seaton informed me, that the most wonderful feature of these 

 forests is, that they shed their leaves completely in the rainy season. If this is really the 

 case, we have here another instance, where the most opposed factors, viz., the highest degree 

 of dryness of soil and climate, and the greatest amount of moisture and a watery situation, 

 effect the same phenomenon, viz., the shedding of leaves, with the difference only iu the 

 period of shedding. Most of the trees belonging to this formation which I passed at the 

 beginning of the rainy season, had all appearance of evergreens, and if we restrict the dis- 

 tinction of evergreen and leaf-shedding forests, as they appear during the driest period of the 

 year, the swamp forests may still be retained amongst the evergreeu forests.* 



The swamp forests are frequent in the deep alluvium of tlie Irrawaddi valley, especially 

 between this large river and the Hliue river, where they attain their greatest development. 

 They are, however, found also along the Sittang, especially around the small lakes and 

 jungle swamps where they are often blended with the surrounding forests. 



* From the collections of Tenasserim plants in the Herbarium of the Calcutta Botanical gardens, I should 

 arrive at the conclusion, that such swamp forests are also represented along the Tenasserim streams. It is 

 puzzling, however (and this probably arises from superficial observation) that such plants are frequently said to 

 grow " on limestone rocks." 



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