238 



ed. The riverside forests occupy the alluvial soil watered by 

 the rivers, either by percolation, or by the annual floods, and: 

 they owe their existence to the supply of moisture thus obtained. 

 The principal species are Babul (Acacia arabica), Populus 

 euphratica and species of Tamarix. Both the babul and the 

 poplar occur more or less pure over considerable areas 

 and at other times as standards over an underwood of Tamarix. 

 These forests are often washed away as the river changes its 

 course, and the fresh alluvial deposits thrown up by the river 

 are quickly covered with a dense growth of seedlings. This 

 arid region occupies the extreme eastern end of the great belt 

 of desert which stretches from Northern Africa, through Arabia, 

 South Persia and Baluchistan, to beyond the Indus. The 

 comparatively small number of species occurring in it is a 

 noticeable feature, and it is also remarkable that some of them 

 occur both in the African and Indian area, e.g. Salvadcra 

 persica and Capparis spinosa. The forests of this arid Indian 

 region become richer in species towards the north and east, 

 passing then gradually into deciduous forests. Towards the east 

 Ancgeissus pendula is a common and characteristic species, it 

 being the chief forest tree in Meywar and Merwara. 



220. A reference to the map Plate 

 XXII will show the enormous area which is included in 



Ous j? orcst-s. . r i i i t* i"i i 



the region 01 the deciduous forests which, with reference 

 to its rainfall, may be called the moist Indian Eegion, the 

 annual rainfall ranging from 20 to 70 inches. These are 

 commercially the most valuable forests of India, including as 

 they do the greater part of the Teak and Sal forests, besides 

 other valuable species such as the Sandal, Ked Sanders, Sissoo 

 and many others. In the drier regions this type of forest merges 

 into arid forest and in moist localities into evergreen forest, but 

 on the whole the growth, while better than that in the arid 

 forests, is not so luxuriant, and the trees do not attain such large 

 dimensions as in the evergreen forests. In the deciduous 

 forests the great majority of the trees are deciduous in the dry 

 season. While a large number of species are found almost 

 universally distributed in this type of forest, others are confined 

 more or less to local areas. Among the most widely distributed 

 species are the following : 



Terminalia iomentosa (The Sain or Saj, usually on clayey 

 soil). 



Terminalia belerica. 



Terminalia Chebula. 



Lagerstrcemia parviflora. 



