INTRODUCTION 
peak and the Chota Simla spur are covered with an almost 
unbroken mass of deodar, occasionally mixed with blue pine, 
Pinus excelsa. The south slopes of the main ridge and the dry 
sunny spurs which take off from it are covered with forest of the 
long-leaved pine, Pinus longifolia, which here reaches the elevation 
of 7,000 ft., at least 2,000 ft. higher than it usually does in the 
great Himalayan valleys. The northern slopes of this same ridge 
are covered with mixed forest chiefly, the ravines like those of 
Annandale and the Glen having many such evergreen trees as the 
holly, Ilex dipyrena, Euonymus tingens and E. pendulus, the 
laurel, Machilus Duthiei and Litscea umbrosa, hornbeam, hazel, 
Cornus capitata, with bushes of Bhamnus, Lonicera, Viburnum , and 
others. In the forests of oak and deodar there is little or no 
shrubby vegetation, though here and there, especially on dry ex- 
posures, wherever blanks occur, Indigofer a heterantha, Desmodium 
tilicefolium, Berberis aristata, and B. Lycium, Spircea canescens, 
Elsholtzia polystachya, Buddleia paniculata, Plectranthus rugosus 
and Lonicera quinquelocularis are characteristic. On the cooler and 
damper slopes Salix elegans, Viburnum , brambles, and some of the 
above-mentioned are the chief shrubs, while in the undergrowth of 
the ravines Indigofera hebepetala, Myrsine africana, Sarcococcapru- 
niformis, Bosa macrophylla, and Prinsepia are the most prominent. 
The herbaceous vegetation of Simla is remarkable for containing 
many species of great beauty, and wherever it is undisturbed by 
grazing animals it shows, almost the whole year round, except 
during the months of winter, the aspect of a wild garden which it 
would be the despair of a garden lover to imitate. Spring begins 
in April and brings with it the violets, the strawberry, Primula 
denticulata, Geranium , and Anemone. Then by degrees, as the 
weather gets warmer and drier, other plants appear, chiefly Acan- 
thacece , Labiatce and Composite. About the middle of J ane the first 
burst of the monsoon is felt, and with it comes the curious Ariscemata 
and Sauromatum, Cautleya and Boscoea, ground orchids such as 
Satyrium, Habenaria, Hemipilia, and Spiranthes, Lilium poly- 
phyllum, Polygona and Gentiana, while the rocks are bright with 
the flowers of Saxifraga ligulata. Down in the Glen and in the 
waterfall valley Platystemma violoides, Chirita, Begonia, and ferns 
appear on the wet rocks, and the trees are draped with epiphytic 
ferns, especially of the genus Davallia, as well as with such plants 
as Peperomia and Elatostemma. But, perhaps, of all seasons, the 
autumn is the finest in general colouring, for it is then that we 
find on the hillsides the everlasting Anaphalis and Gnaphalium, 
many other Compositae and Labiatae, Gentianaceae, the tall spikes 
of Morina and the spiny heads of Echinops, while the woods are 
