1859.] Notes on the Flora of Luchioiv. 91 



completely altered, the atmosphere becomes saturated with moisture 

 and the fall of rain is considerable, the heat is much diminished, 

 nocturnal radiation almost ceases while the sky is clouded, and the 

 daily range of the thermometer reaches its minimum. As the season 

 advances, the climatic conditions of the cold weather return, and by 

 the 10th or 15th of October, that season has again commenced. 



The climate of Lucknow more resembles that of the Punjab and 

 Scinde than might be expected in so Eastern a district, for Rohil- 

 cund, several hundred miles to the west, has moister and more 

 equable seasons. That such is the case at Lucknow is exemplified 

 by the existence there of several species peculiar to the arid regions 

 of India ; and the Arabian deserts, and which, except at Cawnpore, 

 do not occur east of the dry countries bounded by the Jumna. 

 Dr. Thomson has thoroughly explored the neighbourhood of 

 Moradabad in the west of Kohilcund, the district, immediately 

 east of the Ganges, or west of Oude, and has not met with 

 them there, nor did I observe them in the eastern districts of 

 that province either at Shajehanpore or Bareilly. Among these 

 dry country plants, are Capparis aphylla forming extensive jun- 

 gles in the hottest parts of the Punjab, and found sparingly at 

 Lucknow. Corchorus depressus, Linn, a native of the Arabian deserts, 

 occurring in the Punjab, near Agra, and also at Lucknow. Alhagi 

 Maurorum, the camel thorn of the desert, a peculiarly dry country 

 plant common in the Punjab, which I found at Lucknow and traced 

 along the sandy patches to Cawnpore where it was observed many 

 years ago by General Hardwicke. Bertlielotia lanceolata found 

 formerly by Genl. Hardwicke at Cawnpore, and not known elsewhere 

 east of the Jumna except at Lucknow. 



Most of these plants are also found in the Deccan, where the 

 climate is similar to that of the dry parts of the Punjab, and the 

 North Western Provinces. 



This peculiar Flora does not extend much beyond Lucknow in any 

 direction, except towards Cawnpore. At Nawabgunge, eighteen 

 miles to the east of Lucknow, it ceases, on the north it extends 

 twenty or thirty miles, and on the west, only six or seven. This 

 prolongation of the dry climate and desert Flora of India into the 

 richly cultivated and well-watered province of Oude is interesting 



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