THE FLORA OF BRITISH INDIA 223 
North American ; and Vogelia, which is limited to three species, an 
Indian, South African, and Socotran. Of absentee natural orders 
of the Old World, the most notable are Myoporinee, which, tho ough 
mainly Australian, has Chinese, Japanese, and Masca species ; 
Empetracea, one species of which girdles the globe in the north 
temperate hemisphere and reappears in Chili (the rarity of bog-land 
in the Himalaya must be the cause of its absence); and Cistinee, 
n 
(Fagus) or chestnut (Castanea) in the temperate Himalaya is re- 
pa all three being European, Oriental, and J > Apgete — 
The chestnut, which ee = introduced into N.W. India from 
Europe, ripens its fruit ther 
With the exception of the. rhododendron belt in the high Eastern 
Himalaya, there are in India few assemblages of species of peculiar 
or conspicuous plants giving a here er to the landscape over wide 
areas, as do the heaths in Britain, the heaths and succulent plants 
in South Atti, the Hucalypti, Epacridea, and Proteacee in Aus- 
tralia, the Cac a pearay or the great aloes and euphorbias in 
East Trop ical ae South Africa; nor are there diay: te et 
the pampas, catingas, savannas, or prairie vegetation 
The coniferous forests of the Himalaya resemble age of posed 
Seer countries, and the great teak forests have no peculiar 
featur The wood-oil trees Bien in Burma form an 
pee int feneape over the forests of Arakan and Tenasserim. Of 
gregarious ue ees, some of the most conspicuous are the sal (Shorea 
“aon le g (Di ipterocarpus bene), ees (Dalbergia Stssoo), 
khai ne Catechu), and babul (.4. ca). 
mous palms are few comp ee ge ith many regions in 
ear America, and are pcinoaeakinide 2s OG The Ta lipot 
alms (species of Corypha) are the most majestic palms in eign in 
stature, foliage, and inflorescence; but they are exceedingly rar 
and local. The Indian date (Phenix alee) oe fan-palm or 
palmyra (Borassus flabellifer), and the coco-nut near se 
the only palms that may be said to be el a in the anlanate 
of the plains of — On the other hand, graceful, erect or climbing 
palms with ate or fan-shaped leaves frequent the humid ever- 
Bamboos, of which there are more than 120 kinds in India, are, 
as pen in i igi is ch pusersing whether as clum 
n the o r forming in association all but a ee 
Songles: ‘the taller ‘Ninds monopolize large areas in the hot 
regions, and the smaller clothe mountain. slopes up to 10,000 r in 
the epee fe Tree- — of which there are — —_ (?) 
an saayilad of the paar Hecate whens inGat® be ‘oii to the 
c ron Forestry in this emerge _ for details to Gamble’s Manual of 
Indian Timbers (Lon tter in a untoren ork, 47 
plants are recorded for B *itish India ( oxebinien of those f the alayan Penin- 
sula), and, of these, 2513 1 are trees, 1429 shrubs, and 807 cteabebe: 
