BOTANICAL TOUR IN THE LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT, ASSAM. 65 
large, radiating decompound leaves giving it somewhat of the appear- 
ance of a Tree Fern ; Ficus Roxburghii^ with large leaves and clusters 
of enormous figs in great masses towards the base of the stem and in 
smaller groups along the strong, diverging branches ; Ficus Cunia^ 
bearing quantities of round figs, the size of marbles, along the pend- 
ulous branches thrown out by the tree to bear its fruits. Another 
again is Gynocardia odorata which bears flowers over the surface of 
its stem and branches. The flowers are succeeded by hard globular 
fruits which render the tree a conspicuous object in the forest. 
Other remarkable trees are Alstonia scholar is ^ with branches and 
also leaves in whorls ; Oroxylum indicum, with huge st>ap-shaped 
fruits ; Dillenia indica^ Mcliosma iimplicifolia and Saurauja 
Ro X bur ghii large, strongly veined leaves ; Salix tcirasperma^ih^ 
only tropical Indian representniive of its genus; the laurels Litsa'cc 
cihata, with leaves and fruits strongly citron scented , Litscca 
salicifoUa Litsaa of the commonest trees in 
the Makum forest. 
Not less remarkable than the divcisiiy of forest trees is the wealth 
of epiphytal vegetation which everywhere arrests attention. PHhos 
and Rhaphidophora of several species cling closely to the trunks o! 
trees and cover tbrn\ to their very tops with ihcir creeping stems 
and peculiar foliage. 
The common climbing fern Acrostichum scondetts also grows in 
the same manner, its graceful drooping pinnae depending in close 
order along the w^hole length of tall trees. Asplenium Nidus and Poly- 
podium punctatum are common on branches, the former growing with 
its long broad fronds in a cup-shaped manner which has suggested 
its trivial English name of Birds* Nest Fern,’* the latter with some- 
what similarly shaped fronds springing thickly and irregularly from 
dense masses of root fibres. Davalhae and Asplenia of various spe- 
cies with delicately cut fronds occur in profusion. As a rule, in the 
dry season, these are altogether deciduous, the rhizomes remaining 
dormant until the succeeding rains or they curl up becoming dry and 
wilted although not dead and only unfold to resume their freshness 
when their roots are drenched with rain or saturated with aqueous 
vapour. To state the case succinctly, most epiphytic rhizomatous 
ferns with articulate stipes are deciduous in the dry season, while 
tufted species, forming a decided minority, are not so. 
Two remarkable ferns Drymogloisum carnosum and Polypodium 
nummular if olium with widely creeping rhizomes and small tongue- 
like, succulent fronds, crawl over the branches of shrubs. Other 
striking examples of epiphytal ferns are Lindiaya repens and Neph- 
