C 34 ) 



sapUla, ChryBophyllum Roxburghii, Lagerstrocmia (omenfom, Dillenia parciflora, and similar ones. 



Amongst the lower trees may be noted Grewia microcos, Maesa rainoitacea, Cryplcronia 

 panictilata, Miliiisa tomentosa, Cinnaniomum obtttdfoliitm, Caxtaiiopsis argentea, Erioglossum 

 edule, Aporona dioica, Caslanospenniim, Turpinia pomifcra, Phoebe pubencenn, etc. 



Of shrubs and climbers, amongst the numerous seedlings and young trees that shoot up 

 here, may be mentioned Orumika elongata, Melastoma Malabathricum, Jasminum sp. Con- 

 nanis, Cnestis, Uraria macrophylla, a tomentose yellow-flowered Bauhinia, Combretuin decan- 

 drinii, Ventilago, Toddalia acukata, etc. Also Wallichia oblongifolia, Zalacca up., Areca, and 

 Licuala are frequent. 



StrobilanthcH rufescens is a characteristic plant here, accompanied usually by Molineria 

 capitulata, Clerodcndron hi/ortitiiatum, Dracaena emifoUa ?, Polygonum Chinense ? ; Aglaonema 

 oblongi/oliiim, Adcnostemma latifolium, numerous Scitamineae, etc. 



To these associate themselves numerous annuals and perennials of the leaf-shedding 

 forests, especially of the lower mixed forests, so that the soil-clothing resembles more the last 

 named forest formation. 



4. Hill-Forests. 

 (Not represented in Pegu, hut introduced here for completeness sake.) 



The evergreen hill-forests are solely the product of the influence of elevation, and hence 

 they are found only on those hill ranges, which attain a height favourable for their growth. 

 Although they descend in Martaban as far down as 3000 feet, they nowhere occur at a similar 

 elevation on the Yomah range from the Kambala touug to Kyouk pyoo touug. The cause of 

 this would appear to be the great dryness of the country all round, and the dry N. W. winds 

 during the hot season. The impermeability of tlie calcareous sandstone, that composes these 

 ranges, has also, in my opinion, much to do with the the absence of these forests in the Pegu 

 Yomah. The occurrence on these crests of Vaccinium and other epiphytical and more temper- 

 ate plants, although specifically different from those of the Martaban hills, is to my eyes suffi- 

 cient proof, that the climate alone is not the sole cause of the .absence of nearly all temperate 

 terrestrial plants, but that the cause is more particularly due to the substratum. 



These hill forests appear on the hills east of Sittang, hardly 30 miles distant from the 

 opposite base of the Yomah, and extend, no doubt, as far to the north as the Himalayas, 

 and still further in a southerly direction. They have, I feel sure, once occupied all the 

 elevated ranges of the country to the east of the Sittang from about 3000 feet and upwards, but 

 Uiey are now greatly reduced by the never-resting axe of the Karens. In fact, they have 

 disappeared altogether along many of the greater valleys, altliough the character of the 

 vegetation on the deserted toungyas still sugests their former existence. 



I divide this class of forests into the following three varieties : 



a. Drier Hill-forests (3 to 7000 feet). 



h. Pine-forests (3 to 7000 feet). 



c. Damp Hill-forests (3 to 6000 feet). 



It is possible, that further and more extended explorations in the Karen hills, will 

 necessitate the introduction of more varieties of hill-forests. 1 myself have traversed 

 only a very small area during a very hurried tour. 



a. Drier hill-forests. The dry evergreen hill-forests or, as they may be called more 

 briefly, the drier hill-forests, occupy the ridges and summits of the hill ranges, resembling 

 in this respect the upper mixed forests. They range usually from 4 to 7000 feet elevation, 

 but along unfavourable exposures (especially along the S. and S. W. faces of the ridges,) 

 they may be found as low down as 3000 feet. The average heiglit of the trees in 

 them is about 40 to 60 feet, and the growtli is often stunted and gnarled, especially at exposed 

 situations. Botauically they might be called the forests of oaks and Ternstrocmiaceae, but I 

 believe, the name given above to them is the more preferable. 



The dryness during the hot season is here, (especially below 4000 feet,) considerable, al- 

 though naturally it is not so great as in the dry forests of the plains, and jungle-fires are fre- 

 quent in spite of the laudable precautions of the Karens to prevent them wlien they 

 burn their toungyas. The formation of humus-soil is therefore only partial. The forests 

 may be distinguished into the upper drier hill- forests, or briefly the stunted hill-forests, and 

 the lower drier hill-forests. Both these varieties of forests have so many forms in common, 

 that it is more their general appearance, than the presence of any peculiar vegetative forms, 

 that marks them. 



Stunted hill-forests. These forests are restricted to the highest crests and ridges of the 

 Martaban hilk, usually above 6000 feet elevation, and possibly are rarely, if ever, 

 subjected to jungle-fires, owing to their remoteness from human habitations. They gra- 

 dually pass into the lower drier hill-forests in such a way that it is often quite impossible 

 to say where the one begins and the other ends. But where they are mucli exposed to the 

 prevailing winds and to the influence of weather, they appear to be more abruptly sepa- 

 rated, and the distinguishing line is therefore conspicuous. They consist chiefly of stunted 



