50 BOTANY OF BIHAR AND OBISSA. 



genus there may be 3-4 cotyledons. In Avicennia the comparatively 

 short hypocotyle has upturned hairs which act as a barb, and a short 

 hvtMH'ot vie i- r.iiis in .Kijkeras. This last 



also occurs on the muddy shores of the Chilka Lake. 



168. Along the sea front of the Orissa coast and washed up by the 

 sea may be picked up various fruits and seeds. These may either 

 neloeal'orduetotheNorth-Kast Monsoon drift, a .-iinvnt u hi.-h sweeps 

 up from the Malay Archipelago, curves round the Bay of Bengal and 



Sunde"rbans and - of the wind deposit these on 



the Orissa coast. Among these fruits and seeds 1 have found Nipa 

 fr at ;,;,,<*, which may occur in the Mahanadi delta though I did not 



m all the coastal regions but may have come from Orissa itself : the 

 round smooth fruits (deprived of the exocarp) of I 'alnphi/lhnii. portions 

 of the pseudocarp of Pandanv*; hard grey. Miiooth seeds of Cn-.talpinM 

 crista* etc. Among them is also a pyramidal fruit (?) somewhat 

 resembling that of a Pandanus in shape which has not been ident itied. 

 Concluding Remarks on the Plant Communities. 



169. The types of forest usually recognized have been mentioned 

 in the preceding pages, and it has been pointed out that extensive 

 formations, like that of the Sal, really embrace a large number of 



in different forms under comparatively diverse conditions, and in ( 

 xl 3 presence of one species has no direct bearing 



locality. Hence Sal may occur in many associations where Strychnos 

 is not found, and rn;> err*" Stri/chnu* may occur in associations (such 



170. In the Ramnagar (or Sameshwar) Hills Bauhinia purpurea is 

 found on ridge. ,\ tra ct only along valleys or 



on cool sides of hills rarely with Sal. Clauwna pentaphylla is found 

 under Sal in Ch its place is taken by Clauserta 



excavata, a species which occurs on ridges in the humid climate of 

 British Bhutan. Whereas the presence of trees depends on the climate, 

 elevation and soil, the presence of many of the smaller plants depends 

 not only on these factors but on the presence of the trees, and the 

 absence of many species from the Northern tra.-t wlii.h oeeiir in tlv 

 adjacent Tarai and Duars and also sometimes in the more humid 

 parts of the Southern tract is due to the destruction of the forests by 

 human agency. The different combinations of species into associa- 

 tions are thus almost endless according to slight varying factors of 

 the localities, and in the following tables it has been considered better 

 ) .ad compressed seeds is commoner 



