180 FLORA INDICA. 



phorUacem^ Meliacem, Bauhinia, Bombax, Morus, Artocarpus, 

 and other Urticacece, and many LeguminoscB ; and the under- 

 growth consists of Acanthacem, Bamboos, several Calami, two 

 dwarf Arecm, JVallichia, and Caryota wrens. Plantains and 

 tree-ferns, as well as Panda.nus, are common; and, as in all 

 moist tropical countries, ferns, orchids, Scitaminece, and Pa- 

 thos are extremely abundant. Few oaks are found at the base 

 of the mountains, and the only conifers are a species of Podo- 

 carpus and Pinus longifolia, which frequents the drier slopes 

 of hot valleys as low as 1000 feet above the level of the sea, 

 and entirely avoids the temperate zone. The other tropical 

 Gymnosperms are Cycas pectinata and Gnetum scandens, 

 genera which find their north-western limits in Sikkim. 



The rarity of oaks at the base of the mountains must be 

 ascribed to the great dryness and winter's cold of that part of 

 the chain, for we miss also other eastern types which abound 

 in the equable and moist climate of the Malayan archipelago 

 and peninsula, such as Liquidambar and nutmegs ; whilst Di- 

 pterocarpea, and especially Anonacem, are exceedingly few in 

 number. Liquidambar is common in the Assam jungles, and 

 indicates their greater humidity. The same inference may be 

 drawn with regard to the tropical belt of the Khasia, from the 

 occurrence there of two nutmegs and numerous Anonacece. 



Oaks, of which (including chesnuts) there are upwards of 

 eleven species in Sikkim, become abundant at about 4000 

 feet, and at 5000 feet the temperate zone commences, the 

 vegetation varying with the degree of humidity. On the 

 outermost ranges, and on northern exposures, there is a drip- 

 ping forest of cherry, laurels, oaks and chesnuts. Magnolia, 

 Andromeda, Styrax, Pyrus, maple and birch, with an under- 

 growth of Araliacece, Hollbdllia, Limorda, Daphne, Ardisia, 

 Myrsine, Symplocos, Rubi, and a prodigious "variety of ferns. 



Plectocomia and Musa ascend to 7000 feet. On drier expo- 

 sures bamboo and tall grasses form the underwood. Rhodo- 

 dendrons appear below 6000 feet, at which elevation snow 

 falls occasionally. From 6-12,000 feet there is no apparent 



