Sundari trees are found in which type of forests in India?

Correct — C. The sundari (Heritiera fomes) is a mangrove tree of the tidal, brackish delta of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. The Sundarbans are named after it.

Salt tolerance is what decides this question. Mangroves are the one forest type in the list that grows in ground flooded twice a day by the tide.

Their trees carry adaptations no inland forest needs — stilt roots to hold in soft mud, and breathing roots that push above the waterline to take in air. Option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Tropical evergreen forests — Tropical evergreen forests grow where rainfall exceeds about 200 cm — the windward Western Ghats, the north-east, the Andamans. Their signature timbers are ebony, mahogany and rosewood.
• (b)
  Tropical deciduous forests — Tropical deciduous forests are India's most widespread type, marked by teak and sal. They shed leaves in the dry season, an answer to drought rather than to salt water.
• (d)
  The thorn forests and scrubs — Thorn forests and scrubs occupy the driest tracts, such as western Rajasthan, where acacias and euphorbias store water. That is the opposite problem from a tidal swamp.

India's natural vegetation is classified by rainfall and terrain, and each type carries a small set of named trees that SSC uses as the tell.

Evergreen goes with ebony, mahogany and rosewood. Deciduous goes with teak, sal and sandalwood. Thorn scrub goes with acacia and euphorbia. Mangrove goes with sundari.

Mangroves are the odd one out because they are defined by tidal salt water rather than by rainfall, which is why they are also called tidal forests. They fringe the deltas of the Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna.

Key facts

• Sundari trees (Heritiera fomes) grow in the mangrove forests of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta.
• The Sundarbans take their name from the sundari tree.
• Mangrove forests are also called tidal forests.
• Mangrove trees use stilt roots and breathing roots to survive waterlogged, saline ground.

Common traps

• Placing sundari in tropical evergreen forest because both are dense and wet
• Forgetting that mangroves are classified by tidal salinity, not by rainfall

No directly related past PYQ was found.