ABSTRACT
The tropical climate and the fertile soil combine to clothe most of Bangladesh in an evergreen mantle. The greenery is very striking to the traveller from the western parts of the Indian subcontinent, who find the thick cover of trees and grasses and crops a delightful contrast to the dun and brown of the western semi-deserts. The most common tree of the countryside is the Mango. This is a fruit tree, but often, when it dose not grow well, it is used for timber. Over most of north-central and north-western Southern Region it is the principal tree in the groves that surround the groups of huts. For sheer numbers the Betelnut palm ought to hold the second place. The Sunderbans forest at the southern end of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta stretches from the Hoogly river to the Rabnabad islands, and extends inland, in places, as far as 100 miles. Two-thirds of this forest is within Bangladesh.
