THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 53 



Burmese or to the Malay Peninsular flora. Four species of palms 

 are endemic in these Islands, viz., Ptychoraphis augusta, Bentinckia 

 nicobariea. Calamus nicobaricus and C. unifarius ; two species are 

 endemic in the Nicobar and Andaman Islands: Pinanga manii and 

 Calamus andamanicus. 



Of the Eastern Himalayan region, only Sikkim is botanically well 

 known. Its proximity to the Bay of Bengal and the direct exposure 

 to the effects of the south-west monsoon make the district the most 

 humid part of the whole range of the Himalayas. The total number 

 of species of flowering plants is estimated to be about 4,000, of which 

 only 20 are palms. Of these, only 2 inhabit the temperate zone 

 (from 6.500-11,500 feet) : a scandent Rattan (Plectocomia himalaica) 

 and a Fan-Palm ( Trachycarpus martiana). The rest belong to the 

 tropical zone (1,000-6,500 feet). At the lowest elevations we find 

 Phcenix rupicola ; Pinanga gracilis and Wallicliia densifiora reach 

 as high as 3,000 feet, Calamus erectus, C. flagellum up to 4,000, 

 Caryota urens up to 5,000, Calamus acanthospadix up to 6,000. 

 Other palms belonging to the same zone are Wallicliia disticha, 

 Licuala peltata, Calamus leptospadix and Dcemonorops jenkinsianus. 



The Western Himalayan region, which extends from Kumaon 

 to Chitral has a much cooler and drier climate than the Eastern 

 Himalaya. In consequence of it we find that 12 of the eastern 

 species of palms have entirely disappeared in the western region. In 

 the temperate zone there ocelli's only one species (a Trachycarpus) 

 which is confined to and local to Kumaon and Garhwal. Five 

 others belong to the tropical zone of Kumaon, viz., Phoenix sylvestris, 

 P. acaulis, P. humilis, Wallicliia densifiora and Calamus tenuis, alt of 

 which have a very wide distribution. 



In the Indus Plain region, including the Punjab, Sind, and 

 Rajputana, west of the Aravalli range and Jumna river, Cutch, and 

 Northern Gujarat, the only indigenous palms are Phoenix sylvestris and 

 JVccnnorhops ritchieana. The latter finds its north-eastern limit in 

 the Salt range, and the south-western limit in Sind and Baluchistan. 



The Gangetic Plain region stretches from the Aravalli hills and 

 Jumna river to Bengal, including the Sundarbans, the plains of 

 Assam and Sylhet, and the low country of Orissa north of the 

 Mahanadi river. Hooker has divided this region into three sub-reg- 

 ions : an upper dry, a lower humid, and the Sundarbans. In the upper 



