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jungle only, sucli as Desmodium laxijlorum, Urena lohata, Gyperus elegans, 
Oplismenus compositus, Panicum montanum, Alocasia fornicata, Costus 
speciosus, Zingiber sp., Amorphopliallus sp., Acrostichum appendiculatum, 
Geratopteris thalictraides, etc., are not only very rarely met with, but are 
represented by extremely few individuals where they do occur. 
Woody sbrubs and small trees taken together do not, as regards 
species, quite equal in number the large trees. In point of number of 
individuals, however, this is not the case, for it is not unusual to find these, 
woody shrubs and the smaller trees truly gregarious, particularly on the 
ridges; the chief examples are Glycosmis pentaphiylla, Alsodeia bengaU 
ensis, Glyptopetalum calocarpum, Gydostemon assamicus, Macaranga 
Tanarms, Miliusa sp., Gijnonietra ramiflora, Leea samhucina, Dendro- 
calamus strictus; a far larger area is covered by small trees and woody 
undershrubs heavily loaded with creepers than is covered by tall forest. 
In the mangrove-swamps most species may be spoken of as gregarious, 
but even here there is no great number of trees over 40 feet high ; and 
the only gregai'ious tall trees are Mumisops littoralis and Gyrocarpus 
Jacguinii, both denizens of the beach-forest behind the Coco-nut zone, 
and Gocos nucifera itself. Among the arboreous species in these islands 
have to be included Gycas BumpUi, which is very commonly 30—35 feet 
high and of which one specimen measured in Great Coco had a clear 
stem from ground to crown of 42 feet; also Tournefortia argentea which 
in Little Coco (and elsewhere in the Andaman group) is a tree 25—40 
feet high with very black bark and a trunk often 3—3| feet in girth ; 
Pongamia glabra too, recorded by Mr. Baker in the F. B. I. as sometimes 
a climber, is here, as it also is in Bengal, always a tree from 20—60 feet 
in height. Salacia prinoides on the other hand is here always a heavy 
extensive climber. 
Erect woody species therefore, including both trees and shrubs in 
this category, form almost exactly two-sevenths of the floi’a as regards 
number of species. As regards individuals, however, it will be no over¬ 
estimation to say that these constitute six-sevenths of the vegetation, not 
merely in bulk but in actual number of individuals. 
Climbing species, as compared with those having an erect or 
prostrate habit, show a much higher proportion of woody to herbaceous 
species. This is owing to the fact that of the 78 climbers only two are 
cryptogams, while in the other group 59 cryptogams are included. To 
give therefore an accurate conception of the conditions that prevail, the 
Cellular cryptogams ought to be excluded. Of the 312 Phanerogams 
and Vascular cryptogams 234 are of erect habit and 78 are climbing, 
giving a proportion of :— 
Erect sp. : climbing sp.: ; 4 : 1. 
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