The epiphytes present at about breast height on trunks of different size were studied for three major tree species in a seasonally wet forest at 2050 m altitude in the Kumaun Himalaya: Cedrus deodora, Quercus floribunda and Q. leucotrichophora. The total biomass and species number per unit trunk area, were found to increase with trunk size. It was supposed that the results indicated a succession in the type of epiphytic cover from young trunks to older trunks.The amount of loose material (plant remains and 'soil') per unit area of trunk increased with increasing girth. The C:N ratio in this material was initially very high on the oaks and declined with increasing trunk size (to 73-78); the ratio was constant across girth classes in the cedar (86-87).Bryophytes produced most biomass on most trunks; next to them were lichens on the smallest trunks, and flowering plants on the largest. The number of species of epiphytes was similar on all three host species. The results are discussed in relation to contemporary ideas on diversity and 'strategies'.

Spectra on life form, leaf size, leaf persistence, flowering season, and shade tolerance of trees in different vegetation types occurring within the north-western catchment of the river Gola in Kumaun Himalaya are presented. The flora of Quercus leucotrichophora, Quercus lanuginosa and Quercusfloribunda forests is phanerophytic, that of Pinus roxburghii and mixed forests therophytic. The grassland vegetation is characterized by the largest percentage of hemicryptophytes. The flora of the whole area, is therophytic. The biological spectrum for the entire Kumaun Himalaya is characterized as therohemigeophytic. Among the various altitudinal zones, the tropical has a preponderance of phanerophytes, the temperate and the alpine of hemicryptophytes.The observations on leaf size indicate that with the exception of Pinus roxburghii forest, in all vegetation types, the species with microphylls are greater in number. In this region, the vegetation expression is evergreen, although the tree flora has a considerable content of deciduous elements. In all the forests, the flowering period in most of the trees is vernal.On the basis of relative density, the greatest proportions of adult trees in the Pinus roxburghii and Quercus lanuginosa forests are shade intolerant, while in the mixed and Quercus leucotrichophora forests maximum trees are intermediate in shade tolerance. With the exception of the Pinus roxburghii forest, all the forests exhibit the dominance of trees which are shade tolerant at the seedling stage_ On the basis of relative density, all forest types, except for Pinus roxburghii forest, have 74.5 to 100% trees with the potentiality of vegetative reproduction.

SynopsisObservations are made on the geographical and ecological distribution of the clubmosses (Lycopodiuni) in India, and their habitats and reproductive abilities.The requirements of clubmosses in India for conditions of good illumination plus habitats of low vegetational competition pressure are probably the most important factors in restricting the species to either well lit forest canopies in the tropics or to open, treeless hillsides in the temperate zone. In the former, the epiphytic habit has become important. In the latter, the terrestrial habit has been exploited. Reproduction in the epiphytes is by spores, which establish in mossy epiphytic cushions. Reproduction in the terrestrial species is either by spores which establish in mosses or in areas opened by erosion and landslides, or by bulbils. The latter achieve a useful, local, additional means of reproduction in climates where, because of low temperatures, the rates of growth can be very slow.