84 The District of Lddidna. [No. 2, 



principal trees are the kikar, pipal, jand, sissu, sirras, mulberry, bher 

 phalahi, tamarisk, baklair (bakain, Melia sempervirens). 



There are a few fine banyans scattered at intervals. There are a 

 few jamans (syzygium jamholanum) at Ludhina itself, but I have not 

 seen any elsewhere in the district. At Machiwara and at Bhilolpur, 

 in the north-east of the district, are a few impoverished mangoe trees, 

 and there are some at Liidiana itself, but they bear no fruit ; in the 

 neighbouring zillahs Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, and Ambala, they 

 come to perfection. One of the most common trees in the belt or low 

 land along the river, is called the pilkhan. Near Pakhowal is a 

 remarkable grove of keham trees, respecting which the tradition is 

 current that they can never be counted, no two visitors giving the 

 same tale, although apparently the number is small. The bakain is a 

 well known tree of ready growth, but of no great ability for timber. 

 It is a species of Melia (sempervire?is), and consequently akin to 

 the Nim, possessing some of the medical virtues for which the latter 

 is so famed. Its leaves are long and pointed, like those of the Nim, 

 and its fruits are about the size and shape of marbles. Akin to the 

 bakain, with similar fruit but with leaves somewhat broader, is the 

 Dek, which I find in Forbes Watson under the botanical name of the 

 Nim, though it appears to be a different species from the well known 

 tree of Hindustan. Next to the irrepressible kikar, the most charac- 

 teristic tree in this district is the " reru," which I cannot find in Forbes 

 Watson, but which Edgeworth describes hesitatingly as Acacia leu- 

 cophlcea. Its foliage is darker then the common kikar. It is common 

 on the western, or Firozpur, side of the district, and is rare on the 

 eastern side. 



With regard to smaller shrubs and herbs, some make their 

 appearance with the Kharif after the autumn rains, and others with the 

 Rabi", in spring, while many remain during the whole year. In the 

 neighbourhood of Khanah, a nettle-like plant with large bright green 

 leaves and white flowers, which covers all the lower hills, is common, 

 but it is not found in those parts of the district from the Himalayas. 

 It is called by the natives " basuta" ; but this is a word used very 

 generally and vaguely. While this plant is found only in the west 

 of the district, the " karil" (capparis decidua ?), so characteristic of the 

 Multan desert, is confined to the eastern half, becoming more com- 



