356 LX. VEKBENACE.«. [Tectona. 



2500 ft. (Beddome Fl. Sylv.), and many of the best Teak forests of Western 

 India above Ghat in Wynaad, Coorg, and North Oanara, are above 2000 ft. 

 Beddome states that on the mountains of the peninsula it rises to a little above 

 4000 ft., but at any elevation above 3000 it is of poor growth. 



Teak grows on a great variety of soils, but shows a decided preference for 

 certain descriptions. In Burma it thrives best on the sandstone of the Pegu 

 Yoma ; there it forms tall, straight, and regularly-shaped stems, and natural 

 reproduction from self- sown seedlings is fairly good. But it thrives equally 

 well on the granite of the eastern Sitang forests, and the splendid forests of 

 North Oanara have granite as the underlying rock. Again, some of the finest 

 Teak localities in the Thoungyeen district of Tenasserim are tipon limestone, 

 and in some of the deUs and valleys of the Khandeish Bangs the tree grows to 

 great perfection on soU produced by the disintegration of basaltic rocks. Thus 

 we find Teak on light and sandy soils, as well as on those which are binding 

 and heavy. But under all circumstances there is one indispensable condi- 

 tion, perfect drainage and a dry subsoil. To the absence of perfect drainage 

 I ascribe the circumstance that Teak does not seem to thrive on level ground 

 with alluvial soil. Instances of natural Teak forests in such localities are found 

 on the headwaters of the Beeling and Domdamee rivers in Martaban, in the 

 lower Bonee forests, and in some other places in the plains of Pegu. In such 

 soil the Teak grows freely and rapidly — more rapidly than on the hills — but 

 the trunks are irregular, fluted, and ill-shapen ; while on the adjoining hUls the 

 tree habitually forms tall, clean cylindrical stems. 



It is remarkable that the only pure or nearly pure natural Teak forests 

 which are known are found on alluvial soil. Otherwise, the tree, though gre- 

 garious, is always associated with Bamboos and trees of other kinds, often form- 

 ing a small proportion only of the forest. Thus in the better Teak localities of 

 Burma, Teak is estimated to form about one-tenth ; but the proportion of Teak 

 to the trees of other kinds fluctuates exceedingly : sometimes it equals their 

 number ; in other instances, again, it does not form one-hundredth part of the 

 trees in the forest. The associates of Teak are, besides Bamboos, the ordinary 

 trees of the dry forest. To a certain extent these vary in different parts of 

 India, but the foUowiug kinds may be regarded as the usual companions of 

 Teak : Schleichera trijuga, Dalbergia latifolia, Ougeinia dalber^ioides, Cassia 

 Fistula, Pterocarpus Marstipium, Terminalia tomentosa, hdlenca, Anogeissus 

 latifolia, Lafferstroemia parviflora, Diospyros Mdanoaoylon, Cfmelina arborea, 

 Bi-iedelia retusa, and to these must be added, in Burma and in some forests of 

 the peninsula, Pterocarpus indicus, Xylia dolabriformis, Anogeissus acumin- 

 ata, several species of Sterculia, Eriolmna, Prermva, and Gordia. On alluvial 

 soU in the plains Teak is often associated with Carey a arborea, Adina cordi- 

 folia, Stephegyne parvifolia, and (in Burma) with Lagerstroemia Reginos. 

 Teak is hardly ever found in Sal forests, and but rarely in the Ein forest of 

 Burma {Dipterocarpus tvheratdatus). Nor is it a denizen of the evergreen forest 

 of Burma and the Western Ghats, though there are a few instances on record 

 (in the Attaran and Thoungyeen forests of Tenasserim) where the evergreen 

 forest has, probably owing to a cessation for a series of years of the annual 

 forest-fires, extended itself into a Teak locality, and in such cases the Teak has 

 been drawn up to a great height by the rapid growth of the surrounding ever- 

 green trees, being fed at the same time by the constantly increasing fertility of 

 the soU. For there is a vast difference between the moist and loose black soil 

 of the evergreen forest, which is enriched year after year by the products of the 

 gradual decomposition of leaves, branches, and other debris of the forest, and 

 the barren soil of the dry forest, where the whole of the annual fall of leaves 

 and branchlets is annually consumed by the jungle-fires, and the ashes, instead 

 of affording nourishment to the trees, are washed away by the first rush of the 



