CHAPTER I 



PRELIMINARY DEFINITIONS. 



1. A TREE is any woody plant which carries up a single stem 

 to a certain height above the ground, and which is besides capable 

 of attaining a minimum height of 25 feet. The term " tree " 

 includes arborescent palms and bamboos. 



2. Trees, according to their size,, may be classed as follows : 



i. SMALL trees, those which attain a height of from 25 to 

 50 feet, e, g. Ougeinia dalbergioides, khair, Anogeissus pendula, 

 Butea frondosa, Prosopis spicigera, fyc. 



ii. MIDDLE-SIZED trees, those which attain a height of from 

 50 to 80 feet, e. g., sissu, Dalbergia latifolia, Lagerstroemia par- 

 rijlora, tun, Anogeissus lattfolia, babul, Quercus incana, fyc. 



iii. LARGE trees, those which can attain a height of over 80 

 feet, e.g. teak, sal, deodar, the spruce and silver firs, cypress, Ter- 

 minalia tomentosa, Adina cordifolia, Antiaris innoxia, Sfc. 



3. A SHRUB is a woody plant which is incapable of attaining a 

 height of 25 feet, and is generally branched from near the base, e.g. 

 the custard apple, Bauhinia racemosa, citron, Randia dumetorum> 

 Murraya Kcenigii, the tea plant, Mimosa rubicaulis, Celastrus 

 senegalensis, Grewia popuUfolia, Indigo/era spp., fyc. 



4. A shrub that assumes the habit of a tree, that is to say, has 

 a certain clear length of stem, is said to be ARBORESCENT, e.g. Bau- 

 hinia racemosa, Murraya Kcenigii, Randia dumetorum, Gardenia 

 turgida, fyc. 



5. A woody plant, which never rises very much above the 

 ground, is called an UNDERSHRUB, e. g. Adhatoda Vasica, the 

 paper daphne, Desmodium gangeticum, Sarcococca saligna, $"c. 



With reference to the preceding definitions it should be observed (a) that one and 

 the same species may be a large tree in one locality, a middle-sized tree in another 

 and even a small tree in a third, according to the size it attained in the several loca- 

 lities ; (b ) that what may be a tree in one place may be only a shrub or even an uu- 

 dershrub in another ; and (c) that a species which is usually only an undershrub, 

 may, under more favourable conditions, become a shrub, and vice versa. 



