Question

Write down the important features of thorn forest?

Answer 1

• Tropical thorn forest occurs in the areas which receive rainfall less than 50 cm and consist of variety of grasses and shrubs.
• It includes semi-arid areas of south-west Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
• In these forests, plants remain leafless for most part of the year and give an expression of scrub vegetation.
• Important species found are babool, khair, neem, kherjiri, palas, etc.
• Tussocky grass grows upto a height of 2m as the under growth and cactus is an important plant of these forests.
• Its main features are that they have sukleen stems which help in retaining moisture.
• They have roots which go underground upto 1 km.
• Leaves are reduced into thorn, spines which reduce transpiration.