INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 137 



Lagerstrmmia parviflora, Terminalia, Conocarpus, Nauclea 

 cordifolia, Diospyros, Teak, Santalum album, Alms integri- 

 folia, Trophis aspera, Bambusa, etc. etc. 



The absence of -winter, and the great heat of the dry season 

 from December to June, give a predominance to arid types, 

 especially to those which have been already indicated as in- 

 tolerant of cold. Few palms are indigenous, except in the 

 dense western forest. Phceniw sylvestris, however, occurs, 

 and Areca Catechu, Cocos, and Borassus are cultivated exten- 

 sively. During the more humid summer season a number of 

 Balsams spring up ; a genus unknown at that season in the 

 hotter and drier Carnatic. 



Our earliest knowledge of the plants of Mysore is due to the 

 indefatigable Buchanan Hamilton, in whose travels many de- 

 tails regarding the aspect of its vegetation will be found. It 

 has since been partially investigated by many botanists, in 

 particular by Heyne and by Wight, but a detailed list of its 

 plants is still a desideratum. 



6. Dekhan. 



The Dekhan embraces the whole of the country between 

 the Kistna and the Godavery, except a very narrow belt along 

 the Bay of Bengal, which is included in the Carnatic. To the 

 west it is separated from the ocean by a narrow strip of land, 

 the Concan, the crest of the mountain axis forming the (phy- 

 sical) boundary between the two provinces. To the north, a 

 low range separates it from Khandesh, and further east the 

 Godavery forms an artificial boundary between it and Berar. 



The mountain-chain which forms the axis of the peninsula 

 is considerably lower in its northern half than further south. 

 North of Nagar, it appears to dip rather abrviptly, so that 

 between Goa and Belgaum it is very much depressed, and 

 presents scarcely any perceptible elevation above the sur- 

 face of the table-land, which is there 3500 feet. Further 

 north, the elevation of the table-land gradually diminishes, 

 notwithstanding the increasing width of the continent. At 



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