MIXED CHOP OF T7NIF0EM AGE. 67 



herbaceous grasses, of Asclepiadece, Apocyneoe, elms, &c. For in- 

 gtance, Inmdreds and thoiisands of young Stereo ^pevmum suaveolens 

 will be found covering several sc|^uare miles of ground, whicb do 

 not contain a single fertile tree of that species. 



Then again water may transport seed over long distances, as is 

 strikingly illustrated by tamarisk, babul, sissu, khair, cocoanuta, 

 &c. Another interesting example of this may be quoted. The 

 nearest Umit of the true region of Anogeigsus pendula from the 

 northern boundary of British Nimar is not less than X50 miles 

 along the course of the Kfarbada and its tributaries ; nevertheless 

 the immediate banks of that river, where it runs through the dry 

 Vindhyan barrier north of Piinasa, ^re covered in places with a 

 dense low growth of that species, the outcome of seed brought down 

 the river and arrested there. But it is not the action of large vo- 

 lumes of water alone that is effective ; in a less striking manner, 

 but on a considerably more extensive soale, the sKght depth of water 

 that rushes over the surface of the ground when heavy rain is falling, 

 suffices to produce extensive displacements of seeds, so that while 

 in some places with numerous seed-bearers overhead, all the seeds 

 ghed may be washed away, other places containing no seed-bearing 

 trees of a certain species may get plentifully sown with seed of 

 that species. 



But the transport of seed is faciKtated not only by its lightness 

 or its appendages, or by water, but also by its edibihty. Thus 

 the heavy seed of Diospyros Melanoxylon is disseminated far and 

 wide by bears, jackals, birds, men, &c., who are greedily fond of its 

 sweet pulpy fruit. So with various species of Zkyphus, with 

 Gmelina arborea, Myrica sapida, Schleichera trijuga, Buchanania 

 latifolia, the sandalwood tree, wild pear, Terminalia belerica, babul, 

 Tetrantheras, Michelia Champct,ca, &c. In a large part of the 

 Ohanga Manga Plantation an abundant undergrowth of mulberry 

 has come up under the original pure sissu crop from seeds dropped 

 by birds. Birds are also active distributors of the seeds of the 

 various species of Fieus and Loranthacece, depositing them on their 

 future hosts in places favourable for their reception. But animals, 

 by swallowing seeds, not only disseminate them, but also accelerate 

 their germination, the secretions of their stomachs and intestines 

 producing a favourable reaction on the reserve matter. Thus, in 

 babul groves in the Deccan, the penning of goats for a few days un- 

 der them, when the fruit is ripe, results in the formation of a 

 dense carpet of seedlings, which otherwise are not produced in any 

 great numbers, 



