1838,] Report on the Tea Plant of Upper Assam. 



351 



a remarkable peculiarity in its climate, and it must constantly be 

 borne in mind, that neither the latitude nor the elevation of any portion 

 of its surf ace can account for the number of northern or elevational forms 

 found in its flora, for the extreme latitude does not exceed 28° 20' N. 

 and the extreme elevation cannot, I think, even at the foot of any part 

 of the boundary ranges, exceed 1,000 feet. 



In glancing- over the vegetation associated with the Tea, I shall con- 

 fine myself to the notice of such plants as were actually growing either 

 among the Tea or on the limits of the localities ; reserving those which 

 struck me as peculiar, and which were found removed from the Tea, to 

 that portion of my report in which I shall enter more fully into the Bo- 

 tany of Upper Assam. 



As the general features of the flora of this province are tropical, so are 

 the general features of that portion which occurs assosiated with the 

 Tea. Thus at Kujoo I found tropical Rubiaceoe, Acanthaceos, and Cyr- 

 tandracece, Myristieeoe, Laurineoe and Piperaceos ; Dillenia Speciosa, Leea, 

 a Dipterocarpus and a Chloranthus, among Dicotyledonous forms. Of 

 Monocotyledones tropical Orchideoe, CommelineoB, and Graminece 

 (among which a Bambusa was common), and Roxburghia occurred. And 

 of Acotyledones, of which ferns are chiefly deserving of notice, tropical 

 forms of Lycopodiura, Polypodinm, among which is P. arboreum, Asple« 

 nium and Angiopteris crassipes. A few Jungermannice and Hepaticoe, 

 but none of remarkable forms were met with. At this locality no pecu- 

 liar plant of importance was found, if we except a Castanea, the distri- 

 bution of which, however, is wide. At Kujoodoo and at Ningrew simi- 

 lar features present themselves, but at the latter a peculiarity was indi- 

 cated by the presence of a Dicksonia on the limits of the colony, and of 

 Chrysobaphus Roxburghii among the Tea. At Tingrei a very striking 

 instance was obsei-ved in the existence of a species of Stauntonia ; some 

 importance is also to be attached to the presence of a new and remarkable 

 genus, which at present I refer to the natural order Ternstroemiaceoe, 

 and of a new species of Choripetalum, with distinctly acid leaves. Last- 

 ly, at Nadawar, the principally remarkable associated plant is a species 

 of Eurya. An estimate of the value of each of these will be found in a 

 subsequent part of this report. 



In drawing a comparison between the Assamese and Chinese forms 

 that exist in association with the Tea plant, it must be observed that the 

 data are excessively meagre ; this applies chiefly to those relative to the 

 Flora of the South of China, and is attributable to the loss of Dr. Abel's 

 collections and Mss. by the wreck of the Alceste. But on the subject of 

 paucity of data I shall hereafter have occasion to make a few remarks. 



