Notes on Dipterocarps, 



No. 3. The seedling' of Shorea robusta, Roxb-, and the 

 conditions under which it grows into pure forests. 



By I. H. Buekill. 



In this Journal, 191?, pp. 163 — 16?, outline figures of the 

 seedlings of some Malayan Shoreas were given; and the remark 

 was made that the Indian Shorea robusta, well known as Sal, 

 differs from them in the elongation of the stalks of its cotyledons. 

 It is now possible to illustrate the remark by an outline figure of 

 the seedling of Shorea robusta at the same stage as the Malayan 

 species : and if the reader, after glancing at it, will turn back to 

 the pages named, he will see at once how wide is thie difference. 



In my material of 8. robusta the stalks of the cotyledons at- 

 tained 6 cm. in length : whereas those of the Malayan species figured 

 before never exceeded 1 cm. 



I owe the material to the kindness of Mr. E. S. Hole of the 

 Indian Forest Service, -Botanist at the Imperial Forest Eesearch 

 Institute, Dehra Dun. 



Shorea robusta is one of the most important of Indian Forest 

 trees: for instance, Pearson estimated in 1913 that the annual 

 production exceeded eight million cubic feet (Economic Value of 

 Shorea robusta, Indian Forest Memoirs, ii. part 3, 1913, p. 70) ; 

 and while the Government conserves large forests of it, there are 

 also considerable areas privately owned and worked. The dis- 

 tribution of the Government forests may be gathered easily from 

 Caccia's paper entitled " Development of Sal " in the Indian 

 Forest Records, vol. 1, part 2, 1908, p. 85, to which a map is ap- 

 pended. The privately owned forests lie in the same regions, which 

 may be summarised thus : — 



(i) a belt, extending along the base of the Himalaya, and up 

 its slopes to about 4000 feet (in favoured localities somewhat 

 higher) between the Kangra valley on the west and the Darrang 

 district in Assam on the east. 



(ii) the country east of the Bengal plains comprised in the 

 Garo, Khasi and Jaintea hills, and the hilly district of Nowgong 

 to the north. 



Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc, No. 79. 



