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Flora
-----------------The evergreen forests have lofty tree and the canopy is closed. Some of the common dominant trees are Vateria indica (Vellapine), Sandal wood Tree (Santallum ---------),Dipterocarpus indicus (Kalpine), Cullani excelsa (Karayani), Plaquium ellipticum (Palai) etc. Semi-evergreen forests hold a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees. Artocarpus hirsuta (Aini), Salmalia malabarica (Elavu), Hopea parviflora (Thampakam), Tetrameles nudiflora(Vellacheeni) etc., dominate in this type. Moist deciduous forests occur interspersed with grasslands around the lake and along the slopes on the north. Terminalia species (Maruthy) dominate. Teak (Tectona Grandis), Rose wood, Pterocarpus (Venga) etc also exist. Grasslands occur around the lake and on the islets. There is scattered growth of firehardy species like Anogeissus latifolia (Mazhukanjiram), Careya arborea (Pezhe), Emblica officianalis (Nelli) etc.The main species of grass are elephant grass (Cympopogon species) moreover there are about 143 species of known orchids.The only south Indian conifer podocarpus Wallichianus also has it's presence here. Flora is so diverse & abundant with over 1800 flowering plants & includes 171 grass which are commonly grazed by elephant, gaur and sambar.
-----------------The evergreen forests have lofty tree and the canopy is closed. Some of the common dominant trees are Vateria indica (Vellapine), Sandal wood Tree (Santallum ---------),Dipterocarpus indicus (Kalpine), Cullani excelsa (Karayani), Plaquium ellipticum (Palai) etc. Semi-evergreen forests hold a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees. Artocarpus hirsuta (Aini), Salmalia malabarica (Elavu), Hopea parviflora (Thampakam), Tetrameles nudiflora(Vellacheeni) etc., dominate in this type. Moist deciduous forests occur interspersed with grasslands around the lake and along the slopes on the north. Terminalia species (Maruthy) dominate. Teak (Tectona Grandis), Rose wood, Pterocarpus (Venga) etc also exist. Grasslands occur around the lake and on the islets. There is scattered growth of firehardy species like Anogeissus latifolia (Mazhukanjiram), Careya arborea (Pezhe), Emblica officianalis (Nelli) etc.The main species of grass are elephant grass (Cympopogon species) moreover there are about 143 species of known orchids.The only south Indian conifer podocarpus Wallichianus also has it's presence here. Flora is so diverse & abundant with over 1800 flowering plants & includes 171 grass which are commonly grazed by elephant, gaur and sambar.
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-----------Mammals :-Among 35 species wild animals in Periyar these are the few prominent veritabrate & primates..................
- Elephants
- Wild Gaurs
- Boars
- Endangered Lion Tailed Macaque
- Malabar giant Squirrel & flying Squirrel
- Lone habitat of Tigers & their relatives, Leopard & Jungle cat.
- Sloth
Beer, Barking Deer, Spotted, Sambar Deer etc.
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Birds:-
It's a plethora of birdlife as it provides ideal nesting place for There
are about 265 Species of Birds in
Periyar forest including Migrants, the Hombill, stork, woodpecker, Kingfisher,
Raptor, Darter, Cormorant, Grackle , Cluster etc
Reptiles:-
Cobra, Viper, krait, a number of non-venomous snakes bicoloured frogs,
crocodiles etc...