ya, 5000-11,000 feet.

6. Alpine Himalaya, 11,000-16,000 feet.

Of course a flora does not fit itself into compartments, and the changes
of type are gradual.

~Panjab Dry Plain.~--The affinities of the flora of the Panjab plains
south of the Salt Range and the submontane tract are, especially in the
west, with the desert areas of Persia, Arabia, and North Africa, though
the spread of canal irrigation is modifying somewhat the character of
the vegetation. The soil and climate are unsuited to the growth of large
trees, but adapted to scrub jungle of a drought-resisting type, which at
one time covered very large areas from the Jamna to the Jhelam. The soil
on which this sparse scrub grew is a good strong loam, but the rainfall
was too scanty and the water-level too deep to admit of much cultivation
outside the valleys of the rivers till the labours of canal engineers
carried their waters to the uplands. East of the Sutlej the Bikaner
desert thrusts northwards a great wedge of sandy land which occupies a
large area in Bahawalpur, Hissar, Ferozepur, and Patiala. Soil of this
description is free of forest growth, and the monsoon rainfall in this
part of the province is sufficient to encourage an easy, but very
precarious, cultivation of autumn millets and pulses. The great Thal
desert to the south of the Salt Range between the valleys of the Jhelam
and the Indus has a similar soil, but the scantiness of the rainfall has
confined cultivation within much narrower limits. Between the Sutlej and
the Jhelam the uplands between the river valleys are known locally as
Bars. The largest of the truly indigenous trees of the Panjab plains are
the _farash_ (Tamarix articulata) and the thorny _kikar_ (Acacia
Arabica). The latter yields excellent wood for agricultural implements,
and fortunately it grows well in sour soils. Smaller thorny acacias are
the _nimbar_ or _raunj_ (Acacia leucophloea) and the _khair_ (Acacia
Senegal). The dwarf tamarisk, _pilchi_ or _jhao_ (Tamarix dioica), grows
freely in moist sandy soils near rivers. The scrub jungle consists
mostly of _jand_ (Prosopis spicigera), a near relation of the Acacias,
_jal_ or _van_ (Salvadora oleoides), and the coral-flowered _karil_ or
leafless caper (Capparis aphylla). All these show their desert
affinities, the _jand_ by its long root and its thorns, the _jal_ by its
small leathery leaves, and the _karil_ by the fact that it has managed
to dispense with leaves altoget