LIBRARY N£W YORK SOT WiCAL GARDEN 



ON THE FLOHA OF CUTCH. 



HV 



E. Blatter, s..t. 

 Part I. 

 The flora of Cutch has received very Little attention on the part of 

 botanical explorers. There is scarcely any other pari in India thai is 

 so seldom mentioned in doristic works as Gutch. Much less are we 

 able to find any special publication on its vegetation When Hooker 

 and Thomson published their "Flora Indiea" in 1855, they gave us 

 in the "Introductory Essay" a valuable account of the physical and 

 botanical features of the various parts of India, bui regarding Gutch 

 we read ontv the following remark- : '' The district oi Kach, which 

 is separated from Katiwar by the Gulf of Kacli, a narrow arm of the 

 sea, from Sindh by the most eastern branch of the Indus, and from 

 Marwar by the Rami (a very singular saline an I more or less marshy 

 plain, in which the river Luni loses itself) has a very similar climate 

 to the peninsula of Gujarat, being [ike that traversed by a range of 

 hills running from Wesi to East. Il may, therefore, (for our purposes) 

 with more propriety be considered a parr of Gujarat, than to belong to 

 Sindh. to which physically as well as politically it is more nearly 

 related. The northern districts of both Kacli and Katiwar, being 

 screened from the rain-bringing winds by the hills, are extremely arid."- 1 - 

 Since the time when this was written, the oountries surrounding 

 Gutch have been explored more minutely as regards their flora, and 

 the physical and meteorological condition- prevailing in them are 

 better known. This will enable us later on to decide the question 

 whether Cutch ought to be considered a part of the botanical 

 province of Gujarai or of Sind. The last 50 years did not add 

 much to our knowledge of the flora of Gutch. Here we are 

 speaking of the printed records only, for we are not so fortunate as to 

 have access to the extensive herbaria of Europe which very likely 

 contain specimens also of Gutch. Of the former only one came under 

 our notiee. It is a list of the plants of Cutch, prepared by Colonel 

 < '. T. Palin as a contribution to Vol. V. of the Bombay Gazetteer in 

 i880. The circumstance 'hat the habitat and flowering time is added 

 to the names of many species make the catalogue a very valuable 



J . Hooker, J. D., and Thomson, T„ Flora Indiea, Vo!. I„ p. 150. 



