, PLANTS OF NORTHERN GUJARAT. 
229 
Helicteres Isora , Carissa Carandas, Holarrhena anticly sent erica , 
Alangium Lamarckii> Wrightia tinctoria , Nyctanthes 
Arbor -tristis, Flacourtia sepiaria, Grewialhirsuta. Grewia 
pilosa is also common, but is likewise fairly common in 
Savannah. 
These form a much larger proportion of the vegetation than is the case 
with the trees and shrubs of Butea Savannah, but rarely sufficiently large 
to be regarded as true woodland. Some interesting herbs and low under- 
shrubs are also characteristic of the association, e.g. % Neuracanthus 
sphaerostachys , Tubiflora acanlis and Desmodium gangeticum. In 
proportion as the prevalence of trees and shrubs increases the number of 
grasses decreases, and in this association grasses are quite subordinate. 
III. Thorn Savannah . 
This type of vegetation — frequent thorny bushes and small thorny 
trees— with low ground herbage in between— covers large tracts. It 
only occurs where the ground is fairlv hard and gravelly or where the 
sand is very coagulated. Just as Woodland Savannah occupies hills 
with outcrop of large rock masses and boulders, so Thorn Savannah 
occupies gravelly stretches. There are many such near Modasa, but the 
type is also found near Bavsar on stony hills, near Kaesan on gravelly 
portions of the Sabarmati banks and elsewhere. Often the bushes, 
though widely spaced, are almost impenetrable on account of their 
ramblin^ branches and strong thorns. 
The principal woody members of the Thorn Savannah are 
Zizyphus rotundifolia , Z. Oenoplia , Z. Jujuba , Gymnosporia 
Montana , Cassia avriculata , Cappatis aphylla, C. sepiaria , 
Balanites Bjoxburghii, Acacia Senegal, A. leucophlcea , A. 
Jacquemontii , Mimosa hamata , Plectronia parvifiora , 
Bauhinia racemosa , Grewia populifolia , (only noted at 
Raesan), G. villoca. 
All of these plants will not be present in any one locality. The first 
three are, however, almost ubiquitous. About three to five miles west 
of Modasa there are large stretches of country so exclusively 
dominated by Zizyphus rotundifolia that they constitute practically 
a Zizyphetum. Capparis aphylla also, especially near towns, consti- 
tutes Cappareta. There is no doubt that if ever the country became 
depopulated, Thorn Savannah, which is an aggressive type, would soon 
cover much of it. Zizyphus rotundifolia is a troublesome weed and 
hard to eradicate. We have seen land recently passed out of cultivation 
covered with this plant, associated with Cassia auriculata and Calotropis 
procera. 
