page_title: South Western Ghats montane rain forests
section_title: Flora
hierarchical_section_title: South Western Ghats montane rain forests / Flora
caption_attribution_description: English&#x3a;&#32; Satyrium nepalense, Nepal Satyrium, is a rare medicinal orchid found in the sloppy hills of India, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and in Sri Lanka. It is found at varied elevations, above 1300 m. (ID: Indian Flora)
context_page_description: The South Western Ghats montane rain forests are an ecoregion of southern India, covering the southern portion of the Western Ghats range in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, at elevations over 1000 meters. They are cooler and wetter than the lower-elevation South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests, which surround the montane rain forests.
context_section_description: The cool and moist climate, high rainfall, and variety of microclimates brought about by differences in elevation and exposure supports lush and diverse forests; 35% of the plant species are endemic to the ecoregion. Moist evergreen montane forests are the predominant habitat type. The montane evergreen forests support a great diversity of species. The trees generally form a canopy at 15 to 20 m, and the forests are multistoried and rich in epiphytes, especially orchids. Characteristic canopy trees are Cullenia exarillata, Mesua ferrea, Palaquium ellipticum, Gluta travancorica, and Nageia wallichiana. Nageia is a podocarp conifer with origins in the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, of which India was formerly part, and a number of other plants in the ecoregion have Gondwana origins. Other evergreen tree species of the montane forest include Calophyllum austroindicum, Garcinia rubro-echinata, Garcinia travancorica, Diospyros barberi, Memecylon subramanii, Memecylon gracile, Goniothalamus rhynchantherus, and Vernonia travancorica.
  The other major habitat type in the ecoregion is the shola-grassland complex, found at elevations of 1,900 to 2,220 m. Shola is a stunted forest, with an upper story of small trees, generally Pygeum gardneri, Schefflera racemosa, Linociera ramiflora, Syzygium spp., Rhododendron nilgiricum, Mahonia napaulensis, Elaeocarpus recurvatus, Ilex denticulata, Michelia nilagirica, Actinodaphne bourdillonii, and Litsea wightiana. Below the upper story is a low understory and a dense shrub layer. These shola forests are interspersed with montane grasslands, characterized by frost- and fire-resistant grass species like Chrysopogon zeylanicus, Cymbopogon flexuosus, Arundinella ciliata, Arundinella mesophylla, Arundinella tuberculata, Themeda tremula, and Sehima nervosum.
caption: Satyrium nepalense in Silent Valley National Park
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "ILCA-77M2", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Capture One Express (for Sony) 9.3 Windows", "Image Artist": "Jeevan Jose", "Image ExifOffset": "248", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "860", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2543", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "14", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:08:13 09:32:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:08:13 09:32:52", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "995723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "761471/100000", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "7577/1280", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light not detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "150", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "6000", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "225", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[150, 150, 35923/12839, 35923/12839]", "EXIF LensModel": "150mm F2.8"}