158 R. L. Heinig — Blind root-stickers of the Sunderbans. [No. 3, 



Blind root-suckers of the Sunderbans. — By R. L. Heinig, Deputy Con- 

 servator of Forests, Bengal, Communicated by the Natural History 

 Secretary. Plate VI. 



[Read August 2nd.] 



The name " Sunderbans " is applied to the tract of littoral forest 

 and cultivation that occupies the southern portion of the Granges 

 Delta, extending from the Hooghly river to the Meghna in the dis- 

 tricts of the 24-Parganas, Khulna, and Backergunge. This tract is, 

 roughly, 5,000 square miles in area, and comprises a large number of 

 low-lying swampy islands formed by the principal rivers and their 

 connecting water-channels. 



The State Forests occupy the portion that extends from the 

 Hooghly river to the Baliswar, on the western border of Backergunge. 

 They are divided, both geographically and as to their legal status, into 

 two approximately equal and well-defined areas, namely, the Protected 

 Forests, extending from the Hooghly river to the Raimangal, in the 

 district of the 24-Parganas ; and the Reserved Forests, extending from 

 the Raimangal river to the Baliswar in the Khulna district. 



The Protected Forests are travelled by rivers not directly con- 

 nected with the Ganges, and resembling estuaries or long arms of the 

 sea ; these rivers are very saline and subject to tidal influences 

 throughout. 



The principal species of forest tree is Gozan ( Ceriops Candolleana, 

 Am.), a tree that does not develop root-suckers, but has short but- 

 tresses. It reproduces itself abundantly, and the innumerable stems 

 and tangled roots of this species and of others with which it is asso- 

 ciated, Gengwd, (Excsecaria agallocha, Linn.); Hantdl, {Phoenix paludosa 

 Roxb., &c), serve, in the absence of herbaceous undergrowth, to 

 protect the surface soil from erosion during tidal inundations, and to 

 induce the deposit of alluvial mud. 



The Reserved Forests are traversed by rivers directly connected 

 with the Granges, that bring down vast bodies of fresh water, especially 

 during the rains. The principal species of forest tree is Sundri 

 (Heritiera fomes, Buch.). The accessory species are Pussur (Carapa 

 moluccensis, Lam.), Amur (Amoora cucullata, Roxb.), Keora (Sonne- 

 ratia apetala, Lam.), Ora (S. acida, Linn. f. ), and a few others. Each 

 island is bordered by a zone of characteristic growth consisting of 

 Golpatta (Nipa fruticans, Wurmb.), Hantdl, species of the mangrove 

 family, Keora, Ora, Kumia (Barringtonia racemosa, Blume.), &c. Behind 

 this zone of riparian growth occurs the Sundri forest, pure, or mixed with 



