1. The upper levels of the Himalayas slope northwards gradually to the
Tibetan uplands, over which the Siberian temperate vegetation ranges.
This is part of the great temperate flora which, with locally
individualized species, but often with identical genera, ranges over
the whole of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. In the
western Himalayas this upland flora is marked by a strong admixture of
European species, such as the columbine (_Aquilegia_) and hawthorn
(_Crataegus Oxyacantha_). These disappear rapidly eastward, and are
scarcely found beyond Kumaon. The base of the Himalayas is occupied by
a narrow belt forming an extreme north-western extension of the
Malayan type described below. Above that there is a rich temperate
flora which in the eastern chain may be regarded as forming an
extension of that of northern China, gradually assuming westwards more
and more of a European type. _Magnolia_, _Aucuba_, _Abelia_ and
_Skimmia_ may be mentioned as examples of Chinese genera found in the
eastern Himalayas, and the tea-tree grows wild in Assam. The same
coniferous trees are common to both parts of the range. _Pinus
longifolia_ extends to the Hindu-Kush; _P. excelsa_ is found
universally except in Sikkim, and has its European analogue in _P.
Peuce_, found in the mountains of Greece. _Abies smithiana_ extends
into Afghanistan; _Abies webbiana_ forms dense forests at altitudes of
8000 to 12,000 ft., and ranges from Bhutan to Kashmir; several
junipers and the common yew (_Taxus baccata_) also occur. The deodar
(_Cedrus Deodara_), which is indigenous to the mountains of
Afghanistan and the north-west Himalaya, is nearly allied to the
Atlantic cedar and to the cedar of Lebanon, a form of which is found
in Cyprus. A notable further instance of the connexion of the western
Himalayan flora with that of Europe is the holm oak (_Quercus Ilex_),
which is characteristic of the Mediterranean region.
North-west.
2. The north-western area is best marked in Sind and the Punjab, where
the climate is very dry (the rainfall averaging less than 15 in.), and
where the soil, though fertile, is wholly dependent on irrigation for
its cultivation. The flora is a poor one in number of species, and is
essentially identical with that of Persia, southern Arabia and Egypt.
The low scattered jungle contains such characteristic species as
_Capparis aphylla_, _Acacia arabica_ (babul), _Populus euphratica_
(the "willows" of Ps. cxxxvii. 2), _Salvadora persica_ (erroneously
identified by Royle with the mustard of Matt. xiii. 31), tamarisk,
_Zizyphus_, _Lotus_, &c. The dry flora extends somewhat in a
south-east direction, and then blends insensibly with that of the
western peninsula; some species representing it are found in the upper
Gangetic plain, and a few are widely distributed in dry parts of the
country.
Assam and Malayan peninsula.
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