Some notes on the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest Of South India

Note on identification
The species were identified with the floras of Matthew and Gamble, with verification
through the Flora of Ceylon. Two genera presented particular problems and as such should
be noted here so that care is taken when considering the information presented.
The genus of Cordia was difficult and so following Nowicke and Miller 1991 in the flora of
Ceylon the species identification of the C. myxa group was left ambiguous to include the
species C. myxa, C. domestica, C. dichotoma, and C. obliqua. C. monoica was positively
identified, although none of the floras remarked upon the obvious diagnostic feature of the
smooth greenish bark.
The genus of Premna also presented difficulties. Premna alstoni was identified from the
flora of Ceylon, and then confirmed during a personal visit to the herbarium at Kew Gardens,
London. Premna tomentosa was identified positively from all floras, but the identification of
P. corymbosa could only follow Matthew, as in Gamble it is referred to as glabrous, which is
the opposite of the collections made, in which the specimens were densely hirsute.
Results
During the survey 915 species of angiosperms were recorded, both native and exotic. The
number of herbaceous plants, including grasses and sedges, was 447. For the analysis these
and the majority of the sub shrubs were excluded (93 species), as were the species of
Menispermaceae and Vitaceae where the plants were not of a woody nature (9 species). Also
excluded were the exotic species that were obviously originally planted or introduced (23
species).
The remaining 343 species were included in the analysis.
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