CHAPTER I. 



PKELIMINAKY DEFINITIONS. 



1. A TREE is any woody plant which carries up a single stem 

 to a certain height above the ground, and which is besides capable 

 of attaining a minimum height of 25 feet. The term " tree '' 

 includes arborescent palms and bamboos. 



2. Trees, according to their size, may be classed as follows : — 



i. Small trees, those which attain a height of from 25 to 

 50 feet, e. g. Ougeinia dalbergioides, khair, Anogeissus pendula, 

 Butea frondosa, Prosopis spidgera, %c. 



ii. Middle-sized trees, those which attain a height of from 

 50 to 80 feet, e. g., sissu, Dodbergia lattfoUa, Lagerstrcemia par- 

 vijlora, tun, Anogeissus latifolia, babul, Quercus incana, ilfc. 



iii. Large trees, those which can attain a height of over 80 

 feet, e.g. teak, sal, deodar, the spruce and silver firs, cypress, Ter- 

 minalia tomentosa, Adina cordifalia, Antiaris innoxia, 8fc, 



3. A SHEPB is a woody plant which is incapable of attaining a 

 height of 25 feet, and is generally branched from near the base, e.g. 

 the custard apple, Bauhinia racemosa, citron, Randia dumetorum, 

 Murraya Kcenigii, the tea plant. Mimosa ruhicaulis, Celastru? 

 senegalensis, Grewia populifolia, Indigofera spp., ^c. 



4. A shrub that assumes the habit of a tree, that is to say, has 

 a certain clear length of stem, is said to be arborescent, e.g. Bau- 

 hinia racemosa, Murraya Koenigii, Randia dumetorum, Gardenia 

 turgida, 8fc. 



5. A woody plant, which never rises very much above the 

 ground, is called an Ttndershrub, e. g.. Adhatoda Vasica, the 

 paper daphne, Desmodium gangeticum, Sarcococca saligna, Sfc. 



With reference to the preceding definitions it should be observed (a) that one and 

 the same species may be a large trae in one locality, a middle-sized tree in anotlier 

 and even a small tree in a third, according to the size it attained in the several loca- 

 lities ; (b) that what may be a tree in one place may be only a shrub or even an uu- 

 derehrub in another ; and (c) that a species which is usually only an undershrub, 

 may, under more favourable conditions, become a shrub, and vice versd. 



