216 
PLANTS OF NORTHERN GUJARAT. 
conformity with this view. Thus many of our most conspicuous forms, 
especially sand-loving xerophytes, are essentially Perso- Arabian and 
occur in almost no other area. A more or less complete list of these is 
as follows : — Capparis aphylla, Bergia oaorata ,. Zizyphus rotundifolia . 
Crotalaria Burhia , Alhagi camelorum, Prosopis spicigera, Acacia Senegal, 
Salvadora oleoicles, Leptadenia Spartium , Leucas Cephalotes, Cenchrus 
biflorus, C. catharticus. A considerable number of the remainder will be 
found to belong to a type which though primarily Perso-Arabian are 
able to find sufficiently dry habitats in the Deccan, and therefore straggle 
across the lfhe into the Indo-Malayan region proper, and even into 
Ceylon, the flora of which is notoriously cosmopolitan. Some examples 
of these are as follows : — Poly gala erioptera , Grewia populifolia, 
Cor chorus tril ocular is, Indigoferd linifolia , I. cor difolia, Cassia 
obtusa , GisecJcia pharnaceoides , Salvadora persica , Cordia Rotkii, 
Helioir opium supinum, Tecomella undulata, Leucas urticifolia , Boerhaavia 
verticillata , Bigera arvensis , Cyperus arenarius , Scirpus quinquefarius , 
Eragrostis cynosuroides , Gracilea Royleana 3 Ckloris tenella, C. villosa 
and Eleusine aristata. On the other hand, there are a fair number 
of species which are essentially Indian or Indo-Malayan, and are not 
likely to be found much further north-west. Among these may be cited 
the following : — Bombax malabaricum, Sterculia urens , Helicteres 
Psora , JEgle Marmelos , Balanites Boxburghii , Celastrus paniculata , Vitis 
trifolia , Abrus precatorius , Butea frondosa , Bauhinia racemosa , Dich- 
rostachys cinerea (which is a curious instance, as this plant is of the 
same habit and appearance as Acacia Senegal, and Prosopis spicigera), 
Terminalia tomentosa, Trichosanthes cucumerina, Momordica dioica, 
Jxora parviflora, Plectronia parviflora, Diospyros melanoxylon , D. 
cor difolia, Carissa Carandas, Holarrhena antidy sent erica, Marsdenia 
volulilis, Ipomcea obscura, I. pes-tigridis , Solarium xantkocarpum , 
Bonnaya brachiata, Striga euphrasioides , Tectona grandis, Aniso- 
meles ovata, Polygonum serrulatum, Phyllanthus Emblica, Bridelia 
retusa, Jfimbristylis quinqu angular is, F. complanata and Andropogon 
annulatus . Without being, therefore, particularly rich in species, our 
flora is very varied and cosmopolitan, and includes many forms which find 
here either their eastern or their western limit. 
With a rainfall of only 30-35 inches crowded into four or less than 
four months, and a rapidly draining soil, the period during which the 
perennial species are compelled to adapt themselves to physically xero- 
phytic conditions is a long one, and as would be expected, xerophytes are 
prominent. Our rainy season is, howeyer, regular and we have not, as in 
Sind, desert conditions, where rain may occur hardly at all for several 
years. On the contrary in nine years out of ten, there are long wet spells 
