10 
THE VEGETATION OF THE DISTRICT OF 
arundinacea. Other quite common grasses are Imperata exaltata , 
Rragrostis cynosuroides, Saccharum fuscum ) Andropogon serratus , 
A. squarrosus , A. annulatus, A . contortus , Cynodon dactylon. 
Trees are evenly but thinly scattered all over the belt, almost 
justifying its description as a very open Savannah forest. 
Amongst those trees the more common species are Bombax malaba - 
ricum , Butea frondosa , Parkinsonia aculeata , Streblus osper , 
while others not so frequent are Ceesalpinia Bonducella , Tama - 
rindus indica ) Adenanthera pavonina , Albizzia Lebbek , Teyminalia 
Bell erica) Lagerstroemia parvi flora , Sarcocephalus cordatus. 
Here and there swampy hollows occur, which are usually fringed 
with a copse of such species as Xanthophyllum glaucum } Barring - 
acutangula , Comb return trifoliatum , Butea frondosa , 
Arundo Donax } Phragmites Karka t while the hollows themselves 
are often choked with a dense growth of Combretum trifoliatum , 
or Polygonum stagninum. 
Villages and monasteries are thickly dotted along this fertile belt 
and form centres of cultivation for Borassus flabellifer—\X\o. Toddy 
Palm. This is very abundant, forming conspicuous clumps close to 
the villages and radiating out from them in lines, which when the 
villages are thickly aggregated cut the horizon in every direction, and 
when the villages are more sparse indicate their presence from 
afar. During the heat of the day the haze restricts the horizon so 
much, that it is only in the early morning and at sunset that the Arra- 
can Yomahs can be seen looming towards the west. Besides the 
Toddy Palms there are almost always in the neighbourhood of 
villages and monasteries, clumps of the Coco-nut Palm, the Banyan, 
( Ficus bengalensis ,) the Peepul, ( Ficus religiosa ,) the Mango {Man- 
gif era indica) and the Jackfruit (Artocarpus integrifolid) . 
The shrubby element in the alluvial belt vegetation although no^ 
very conspicuous, is of a varied character. It includes such species 
as Tamar ix gallica } common along the river bank and on sandy spits? 
several species of Hibiscus , Thespesia Pampas , Helicteres elongata) 
Waltheria indica , Grewia hirsuta y Glycosmis pentaphylla , several 
species of Crotalaria } Tephrosia purpurea exceedingly common, 
Sesbania segyptiaca, AEschynomene indica , Uraria picta , Cassia 
Occident alis , C. Sophera , C. Tor a , C. alata , Rosa involucrata 
common, Combretum trifoliatum very common, Solanum torvum f 
S. indicum> Hygrophila spinosa common, Bridelia retusa , B. stipu~ 
laris , Phyllanthus reticulatus, P. simplex , Jatropha gossypifolia 
common, Ricinus communis very common. 
Climbing and twining plants are, as may be imagined from 
the very open character of the vegetation, very few. Tiliacora 
