FLORA1

FLORAAND FAUNA

FLORA

The xerophytic type of flora dominates in the district. The district is inadequately wooded and some parts are practically bare of trees. Tree species found are khairi, jand, pahari kikar, kikar, dhok, babool, rohera, janti or reru, jai or van, beri, barh, pipal, lasura, imli, barna, shisham, siris, neem, farash, henna, papri, gular, indokh, tut, gulmohar, simbal or samul, kandu, bakain, safeda, arind and dhak. Kikar or pahari kikar is found all over the district. Farash is common in Rewari tahsil. Jand and jai are the dominant species of the sandy areas.

Shrubs found in the district are pala, hins, Puthkanda, bansa, panwar, karia, khip, Aak, phog and Nagphani. Amarbel is a common parasite climber. One of the most characteristic shrubs is pala, a prickly shrub, which covers the fields thickly during September and October. It is very useful shrub; its leaves are used as fodder; its fruits are eaten; its throny bushes are used for hedges or as fuel and its roots for dyeing leather. Nagphani forms thick hedge round many villages in tahsil.

Medicinal plants found in the district and indirain, asgandha, glo, kharnthi, bhakra and dhatura. However, their collection becomes uneconomical as these are found in scattered form.

The important grasses found in the district are anjan, dhaman, dub, kana, dabh palwa and chirya. The palatable grasses like anjan, dhaman and dub have dwindled due to excessive grazing in village common land.

Jand, neem bakain, khairi, mesquite or pahari kikkar, henna and eucalyptus have been palnted to increase the forest wealth.

1. The botanical names can be seen in the table at the end of the chapter.

FAUNA¹

Mammals

The district is inhabited by various groups of mammals. Primates are represented by rhesus macaque or bandar and the langur. The tiger and leopard, once aboundant in the district are no more seen here. The carnivorous animals found in the district are the jungle cat, the small Indian civet, jackal and the Indian fox.

The insectivorous like the grey musk-shrew or chuchunder, common yellow bat and the Tichelli’s bat are usually seen.

The five stripped palm squirrel or gilheri, the Indian porcupine or sahi, the Indian gerbile, the common house rat and mouse are common rodents found.

The Indian hare belonging to the order lagomorpha is also found in the bushes.

Chinkara is seen in the district specially in Bawal tahsil and Nimbi Duloth and Nangal Mala forests in Mahendragarh tahsil. Black buck though in limited number is found near Rewari and Sureti, Dalanwas and Mahendragarh in Mahendragarh tahsil. The blue bull or Nilgai is common all over the district; though it damages the crops yet villagers protect the animal due to religious sentiments.

The species facing extinction in the district are chinkara, black buck, blue bull, stripped hyaena and bheriya.

BIRDS

Game birds – A large number of game birds are found in the district, some are residential while others are winter visitors. Various types of ducks such as spotbill duck, cotton teal, comb duck, large whistling teal, tree duck and dabchick are found throughout the district at suitable habitats. Ducks and geese such as eastern grey-lag goose, barheaded goose, brahminy duck, common shelduck, pintail, common teall, mallard, gadwali, wigeon, blue winged teal, shoveller, common pochard, ferrugious ducks and tufted duck visit the district during winter.

1. The zoological names can be seen in the table at the end of chapter.

Other game birds like black partridges (the state bird) and grey partridges and quails are common. Grey quail is a winter visitor while black-breasted or rain quail, jungle bush quail, whistler or rock bush quail are resident species. Western turtle dove, Indian spotted dove, Senegal dove and Indian emerald dove are generally found in all cultivated fields.

Sandgrouses, namely, the Indian sandgrouse and blackbellied are resident birds while large pintail sandgrouse and spotted sandgrouse visit the district in winter. Their flocks, large and small, regularly visit favourable waterholes.

The district is also inhabited by large number of other birds which add beauty to the wildlife. Birds like large cormorant, little cormorant, darter or snake bird, eastern grey heron and paddy bird are found on the ponds and lakes of the district throughout the year. Other birds like eastern large egrets, median egret, little egret and little bittern affect inland water marshes, jheels, etc. Cattle egret can be seen moving alongwith grazing cattle.

Among cranes, eastern common crane and Demoiselle crane are found near stream beds and fields of winter crops. Indian sarus crane is a resident bird and breeds during rains.

A good number of painted stork, open bill stork, whitenecked stork, blacknecked stork, white ibis, Indian blackibis are found near the streams, jheels, marshes, inundated lands and cultivated fields. It is common during rains.

During winter eastern Baillon’s crake and spotted crake can be seen on the edges of ponds and lakes feeding on aquatic plants. Indian blue-breasted banded rail, slatylegged banded crake, northern ruddy crake, whitebreasted waterhen, watercock, Indian moorhen, Indian purple moorhen are resident birds and can be seen on ponds, inundated paddy fields, etc. Coot, is a resident as well as winter visitor and affects jheels and tanks.

Different types of waders are also found. Waders like dusky redshank, eastern redshank, marsh sandpiper, green shank, green sandpiper, wood or spotted sandpiper, common sandpiper, pintail snipe, fantail snipe and temminck’s stint visit suitable marshy areas and the edges of ponds during winter. Pheasant tailed jacana, painted snipe and Indian blackwinged stilt are resident birds and affects jheels, marshes, tanks and ponds. Indian river tern and blackbellied tern are found in the stream beds throughout the year. Indina whistered tern is a winter visitor.

Among the kingfishers, the most common are the Indian pied kingfisher, Indian small blue kingfisher and whitebreassted kingfisher. These birds can be seen hurling themselves into water to catch fish. These are residential birds.

The common peafowl, the national bird, is quite common and is seen in orchards, fields and gardens.

The other common birds are large Indian parakeet, rose-ringed parakeet, Indian house crow, Indian house sparrow, blue-checked bee-eater, goldenbacked woodpecker, blue jay, coppersmith, Indian golden oriole, pied crested cuckoo, koel, common crow pheasant, redvented bulbul, white-eared bulbul, verditer flycatcher, Indian magpie robin, Indian purple sunbird, red munia, Indian spotted munia and crested bunting. Besides, such attractive birds as hoopoe and Indian white-eye are also seen in and around villages.

Birds of Economic Importance – Scavengers like pariah kite, brahminy kite, whitebacked vulture, tawny eagle, white-eyed buzzard eagle and Indian jungle crow keep the district cleared of dead animals by feeding on them. The Indian scavenger vulture, besides feeding on dead animals, consumes a large quantity of human excreta. Predators like blackwinged kite, Indian shikara, lagger falcon and kestrel are residential birds of the district. Other birds like pale harrier, marsh harrier, eastern steppe eagle visit the district in winter. These along with spotted owlet and eagle owl keep a check on the population of rodent pests and various insect pests by consuming them.

Majority of the birds feed on insects and caterpillars injurious to agriculture. Swifts such as Indian house swift, Indian palm swift and swallows like western swallow and Indian wiretailed swallow consume insects as their staple diet. Shrikes or butcher birds as they are popularly known, feed upon a considerable quantity of insects. Other insect eating birds are king crow, Brahminy myna, Indian pied myna, Indian myna, bank myna, babblers, warblers and flycatchers. Larks and wagtails feed on a considerable amount of worms in addition to insects. Rosy paster and common starling both winter visitors may specially be mentioned for their role in destroying numberous insects including locusts on a large scale and thus help in saving crops to some extent.

REPTILES

Snakes – The common poisonous snakes are krait, cobra, Russel’s viper and phoorsa. The non-poisonous snakes are blind snake, Indian python, John’s sand boa, wolf snake and rat snake.

Lizards – All the lizards found in the district are non-poisonous. The common lizard can be seen in the houses. Kirla or girgit is found in the lawns and hedges and attact the attention by changing its colours. Sanda is found in sandy areas. Besides, a few other types of lizards are found in bushes and areas of thick vegetation.

Tortoise – Two species of tortoise are found in the district.

Frogs – The frogs commonly found, during the rains and in the ponds are Indian bull frog, Indian cricket frog, Indian burrowing frog and common toad.

FISH

The streams and ponds abound in many species of fish. These are parri, katla, mrigal, bata, kalabans, rohu, puthia or kudali, or pitula, magur, singhara, ghally, mallee, dolla and curd.

BOTANICAN NAMES (FLORA)

Trees

Khairi	Acacia senegal Willd
Jand	Prosopis cineraria (L.) (Druce)
Dhok	Anogeissus latifolius (Roxb.) Wall. Ex Bedd
Babool	Acacia jaoguemontil Benth
Rohera	Tacomella undulata (Sm.) Seem
Janti or Reru	Acacia leucophloea Willd
Jal or Van	Salvedora oleoides. Decne
Beri	Ziziphus mauritiana (Lamk)
Barh	Ficus bengalensis (L.)
Pipal	Ficus religiosa (L.)
Lasura	Cordia dichotoma. (Forst)
Imli	Tamarindus indica.L.
Barna	Crateva nurvala Buch.-Ham.
Shisham	Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.
Siris	Albizia Lebbeck (L.) Benth
Neem	Azadirachta indica Juss. Syn.-Melia azadirachta L.
Farash	Tamarix aphylla (L.) Karst
Henna	Acacia tortilis. L.
Papri	Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre
Gular	Ficus racemosa L.
Indolkh	Anogeissus Coronate Staff
Tut	Morus alba L.
Gulmohar	Delonix regia (Boj.) Raf.
Simbal or Samul	Bombax ceiba L.
Kandu	Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.
Bakain	Melis azedaraeh L.
Safeda	Eucalyptus
Arind	Recinus communies
Dhak	Butea monosperama (Lamk.) Taub.
Kikar	Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. Ex. Del. Subsp. Indica (Benth) Brenan syn.
Pahari Kikar	;Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC.

Shrubs

Pala	Zizyphus numnularia
Hins	Capparis sepiara L. Carissa spinarum L.
Puthkanda	Achyranthes aspera L.
Bansa	Adhatoda vasiea Nees.
Panwar	i. Cassia tora L. ii. Cassia occidentalis L.
Karir	Capparis decidua (Forsk.) Edgew
Khip	Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forsk.) Decme. Decne. Syn. L. Spartium Wight
Ak	Calotropis procera (Ait). Ait. f.
Phog	Calligonum polygonoides L.
Nagphani	Cactus indicus

Medicinal Plants

Indirain	Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad
Asgandha	Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal
Glo	Timospera cordifolia Miera ex. Hook. F. & T, Thoms
Kharnthi	Sida acuta Burm f.
Bhakra	Tribulus terrestris L.
Dhatura	Datura stramonium L.

Grasses

Anjan	Cenchrus ciliaris L.
Dhaman	Cenchrus setigerus Vahl
Dub	Cynodon dactylon (I.) Pers.
Kana	Saccharum bengalense Retz. Syn. Erianthus munja (Jroxb.) Jesw.
Dabh	Desmostachya bipinnata (L.) Stapf.
Pala	Dichanthi Annulatum (Forest.) Stapf.
Chirya	Heteropogon contortus (L.) Beauv

ZOOLOGICAL NAMES (FAUNA)

Mammals

Rhesus macaque or bandar	Macaca mulatta (Zimmermann)
Common langur	Presbytis entellus (Duffresne)
Tiger	Panthera tigris 9Linnaeus)
Leopard	Panthera pardus (Linnaeus)
Jungle cat	Felis chaus Guldenstaedt
Small Indian civet	Viverricula indica (Desmarest)
Common mongoose	Herpestes edwardsi (Geoffroy)
Jackal	Canis aurius Linnaeus
Indian fox	Vulpes benghalensis (Shaw)
Grey musk-shrew or Chuchunder	Suncus murinus (Linnaeus)
Common yellow bat	Scotophilus heathi (Horsfield)
Tickelli’s bat	Hesperoptenus ticklli (Blyth)
Five stripped palm squirrel or gilheri.	Funambulus pennanti (Wrought on)
Indian porcupine or sahi	Hystrix indica (Kerr)
Indian gerbille	Tatera indica (Hardwicke)
Common house rat	Rattus rattus (Linnaeus)
Mouse	Mus musculus (Linnaeus)
Indian hare	Lepus nigricollis (Cuvier)
Chinkara	Gazella gazella (Pallas)
Blackbuck	Antelope cervicapra (Linnaeus)
Bluebull or nilgai	Boselaphus Tragocamelus (Pallas)

Birds

Spotbill duck	Anas poecilorhyncha (Forster)
Cotton teal	Nettapus coromandelianus coromandelia- nus (Gmelin)
Tree duck	Dendrocygna Javanica (Horsfield)
Dabchick	Podiceps reficollis capensis (Salvadori)
Eastern greylag goose	Anser anser rubrirostris (Swindoe)
Barheaded goose	Anser indicus (Latham)
Braminy duck	Tadorna ferruginea (Pallas)
Pintail	Anas ecata
Common teal	Anas crecca crecca (Linnaeus)
Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus
Gadwall	Anas strepera strepera Linnaeus
Wigeon	Anas penelope Linnaeus
Bluewinged teal	Anas guerguedula Linnaeus
Shoveller	Anas clypeata Linnaeus
Common pochard	Anas ferina Linnaeus
Ferruginous duck	Anas nyroca (Guldenstadt.)
Tufted duck	Aythye fuligula (Linnaeus)
Black partridge (State bird)	Francolinus francolinus asiae (Bona-parte)
Grey partridge	Francolinus pondicerianus interpositus (Hartert)
Grey quail	Coturnix coturnix coturnix (Linnaeus)
Blackbreasted or rain quail	Coturnix coromandelica (Gmelin)
Jungle bush quail	Perdicula asisatica punjaubi (Whistler)
Rock bush quail	Perdicula argoondah (Sykes)
Western turtle dove	Streptopelia orientalis meena (Sykes)
Indian spotted dove	Streptopelia chinensis suratensis (Gemlin)
Senegal dove	Streptopelia senegalensis cambyensis (Gemlin.)
Indian emerald dove	Chalcophaps indica indica Linnaeus
Indian sandgrouse	Pterocles exustus erlangeri (Neumann)
Blackbellied sandgrouse	Pterocles orientalis orientalis Linnaeus
Pintail sandgrouse	Pterocles alchata caudacutus (Gmelin)
Spotted sandgrouse	Pterocles senegallus (Linnaeus)
Large cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis (Shaw)
Little cormorant	Phalacrocorax nigar (Vieillot)
Dater or snake bird	Anhinga rufa melanogaster Pennant
Eastern grey heron	Ardea cinerea rectirostris Gould
Paddy bird	Ardeola grayii (Sykes)
Eastern large egrets	Egretta alba modesta (J.E. Grey)
Median egret	Egretta intermedia intermedia (Wagler)
Little egret	Egretta garzetta garzetta (Linnaeus)
Little bittern	Ixobrychus minutus minutus (Linnaeus)
Cattle egret	Bubulcus ibis coromandus (Boddaert)
Eastern common crane	Grus grus lilfordi Sharpe
Demoiselle crane	Anthropoides virgo (Linnaeus)
Indian sarus crane	Grus antigone antigone (Linnaeus)
Painted stork	Ibis leucocephalus (Pennant)
Openbill stork	Ananstomus oscitans (Boddaert)
White ibis	Threskiornis melanocephala (Latham)
Blacknecked stork	Xenorhynchus asiaticus asiaticus (Latham)
Indian Black ibis	Pseudibis papillosa papillosa (Temminck)
Eastern Baillon’s crake	Porzana pusilla pusilla (Pallas)
Spotted crake	Porzana Porzana (Linnaeus)
Slatylegged banded crake	Rallina eurizonoides amauroptera (Jerson)
Norther ruddy crake	Amauronrnis fuscus bakeri (Hartert)
Whitebreasted waterhen	Amaurornis phoenicurus chinensis (Boddaert)
Watercock	Gallicrex cinerea cinerea (Gmelin)
Indian moorhen	Gallinula chloropus indica Blyth
Coot	Fulica atra atra Linnaeus
Dusky Redshank	Iringa erythropus (Pallas)
Eastern Redshank	Iringa totanus eurthinus (Oberholser)
Marsh sandpiper	Iringa stagnatilis (Bechstein)
Green Shank	Iringa Nebularia (Gunnerus)
Green sandpiper	Iringa ochropus Linnaeus
Wood sandpiper	Iringa glareola Linnaeus
Common sandpiper	Irniga hypoleucos Linnaeus
Pintail snipe	Capella stenura (Bonnaparte)
Fantail snipe	Capella galinago gallinago (Linnaeus)
Temmincks stint	Calidris temminchii (Leisler)
Pheasant tailed Jacana	Hydrophasisanus chiturgus (Scopoli)
Painted snipe	Rostratula benghalensis benghalensis (Linnaeus)
Indian blackwinged stilt	Himantopus himantopus himantopus (Linnaeus)
Indian river tern	Sterna aurantis Grey
Blackbellied tern	Sterna acuticauda Grey
Indian whistered tern	Chlidonals hybrida indica (Stepehens)
Indian pied kingfisher	Ceryla rudis leucomelanura reichenbach
Indian small blue kingfisher	Alcedo atthis bengalensis Gmelin
Whitebreasted kingfisher	Haleyon smyrnensis smyrnensis (Linnaeus)
Common peafowl	Pavo cristatus Linnaeus
Large Indian parakeet	Psittacula eupatria (Linnaeus)
Rose ringed parakeet	Psittacula kramari borealis (Neumann)
Indian house crow	Corvus splendens splendens Viellot
Indian house sparrow	Passer domesticus indicus Jardive and Selby.
Blue-cheeked bee-eater	Merops superciliosus (Linnaeus)
Golden backed woodpecker	Dinopium benghalense benghalense (Linnaeus.)
Blue jay	Corais benghalensis bengalensis (Linnaeus)
Coppersmith	Magaltma haemaoephala indica (Latham)
Indian golden oriole	Oriolus oriolus kundoo Sykes
Pied crested cuckoo	Clamator iacobinus serratus (Sparrman)
Koel	Eudynamys scolopacea scolopacea (Linnaeus)
Common crow-pheasant	Centropus sinensis sinensis (Stephens)
Redvented bulbul	Pycnonotus cafer (Linnaeus)
White-eared bulbul	Pycnonotus leucogenys (Grey)
Verditer flycatcher	Muscicapa thalassina thalassina Swainson
Indian magpie robin	Copsychus svecicus svecicus (Linnaeus)
Indian purple sunbird	Nectarania asiatica asiatica (Latham)
Red munia	Estrilda amandava amandava (Linn.)
Indian spotted munia	Lonchura punctulata punctulata (Linn.)
Crested bunting	Melophws lathami (Gray)
Hoopoe	Upupa epops Linnaeus
Indian White eye	Zosterops paepebrosa paepebrosa (Temminck)
Pariah kite	Milvus migrans (Boddaert)
Brahminy kite	Haliastus indus indus
Whitebacked vulture	Gyps bengalensis (Gmelin)
Tawny eagle	Aguila rapa vinahiana Franklin
White eyed buzzard-eagle	Butastur teera (Franklin)
Indian jungle crow	Corvus macrorhynchos culminatus Sykes
Indian scavenger vulture	Neophron percnopterus givginianus (Latham)
Blackwinged kite	Elanus caeruleus vociferus (Latham)
Indian shikra	Accipiter badius dussumieri (Temminck)
Lagger falcon	Falco biarmicus (Temminck)
Kestrel	Ealco tinnunculus (Linnaeus)
Pale Harrier	Circus macrourus (Gmelin)
Marsh harrier	Circus aeruging sus aerugin ous (Linnaeus)
Eastern steppe eagle	Aguila nipalensis nipalensis (Hodgson)
Spotted owlet	Athena brama (Temminck)
Eagle owl	Bubo bubo (Linn.)
Indian house swift	Spus affinis affinis (J.E. Gray)
Indian palm swift	Cypsiurus parvus batasiensis (J.E. Grey)
Western swallow	Hirundo rustica rustica Linnaeus
Indian wiretailed swallow	Hirundo smithi filifera Stephens
King crow	Dicrurus adsimilis albirictus (Hodgson)
Brahminy myna	Sturnus pagodarum (Gmelin)
Indian pied myna	Sturnus contra contra Linnaeus
Indian myna	Acridotheres tristis tristis (Linnaeus)
Bank myna	Acridotheres ginginianus (Latham)
Rosy paster and starling	Sturnus roseus Linnaeus

Reptiles

Common Indian Krait	Family : Elapidae Bungarus caeruleus (Schneider)
Indian cobra	Naja naja (Linn.) Family : Viperidae
Russels viper	Vipers russelli (Shaw)
Phoorsa	Echis earinalus (Schneider) Family : Typhopidae
Blind snake	Typhlops porrectus Sloliczke Family : Boidae
Indian python	Python molurus (Linn.)
John’s sand boa	Eryx johni johni (Russell) Family : Colubridae
Wolf snake	Lycodon striatus (Shaw)
Rat snake	Plyas mucosus (Linn.)
Common lizards	i. Hemidactylus brooki (Gray) ii. Hemidactylus flaviviridis (Ruppel)
Kirla or girgit	Calotes versicolour (Daudin)
Sanda	Uromastix hardwicki (Gray)
Other types of lizards found in the district	i. Mabuya macularia (Dum. And Bibr) ii. Ophiomorus tridactylus (Biyth) iii. Vararus monitor (Linn.)

Amphibians

Tortoises found in the district	i. Geoclemys hamiltoni (Gray) i. Kachuga dhongoka (Gray) Family : Ranidae
Indian bull frog	Rana tigrina (Daudin)
Indian cricket frog	Rana Limnocharis neigman
Indian burrowing frog	Rana breviceps Schneider Family : Bufonidae
Common toad	Bufo melanostictus Schneider

Fishes

Parri	Notopterus notoprerus (Pallas)
Katla	Catla catla (Hamilton)
Mrigal	Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton)
Bata	Labeo bata (Hamilton)
Kalabans	Labeo calbasu (hamilton)
Rohu	Labeo rohita (Hamilton)
Puthia, Kudali or Pitula	Puntius sarana (Hamilton) saraa
Magur	Clarias batrachus (Linnaeus)
Singhara	Aovichihys seenghala (Sykes)
Ghally	Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch)
Mallee	Wallago attu (Block & Schneider)
Dolla	Channa punctatus (Bloch)
Curd	Channa striatus (Bloth)