Ebony and Mahogany trees are found in which type of forests?

Correct — C. Ebony, mahogany and rosewood are the hardwoods listed for tropical evergreen forests, the rainforests of areas receiving more than 200 cm of rain a year.

Rain all year means no dry season forces the trees to shed together, so the canopy is never bare and the timber is dense and dark → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Montane forests — Montane forests are the hill and mountain belt — chir pine, deodar, silver fir, spruce and cedar. Tropical hardwoods such as ebony do not grow at those temperatures.
• (b)
  Mangrove forests — Mangrove or tidal forests grow in the saline water of deltas, and their signature trees are sundari, palm and coconut rather than tropical hardwoods.
• (d)
  Tropical deciduous forests — Tropical deciduous is the monsoon forest of teak, sal, sandalwood and shisham. Its defining habit is shedding leaves in the dry season, which is exactly what an evergreen forest does not do.

India's natural vegetation is sorted mainly by rainfall. Tropical evergreen forests take the wettest belt, above 200 cm, in the Western Ghats, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and parts of the north-east.

Tropical deciduous or monsoon forests occupy the wide 70-200 cm band and are the most widespread type in the country. Below 70 cm come the thorn forests and scrubs, and altitude gives the montane belt its own sequence.

Mangrove forests sit outside the rainfall ladder altogether, keyed to tidal, saline deltas.

Key facts

• Tropical evergreen forests occur where annual rainfall is above 200 cm.
• Ebony, mahogany and rosewood are the trees named for tropical evergreen forests.
• Teak, sal, sandalwood and shisham belong to tropical deciduous or monsoon forests, in the 70-200 cm rainfall belt.
• Sundari, the tree that gives the Sundarbans its name, belongs to the mangrove forests of the deltas.

Common traps

• Sorting the trees by timber value instead of by rainfall and shedding habit.
• Assuming evergreen means individual trees never shed leaves, when it means they do not shed together in one season.

No directly related past PYQ was found.