(EUPHORBIACEAE) - A NEW RECORD FOR THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA

© Zoo Outreach Organisation; www.zoosprint.org Manuscript 1469; Received 28 November 2005; Finally accepted 04 March 2006; Date of publication 21 April 2006 2259 May 2006 | ISSN 0973-2535 (Print edition); 0973-2551 (Online edition) The Tirumala hill is situated near Tirupati in southen part of the Eastern Ghats between 13040'N & 79021'E. The Eastern Ghats are the outgrowth of the lower Vindhyan and the Cuddapah systems. In the northern portion, the Ghats are highly dissected and intervened by a number of valleys. The width of this place is between 60 and 70km and in many parts, the elevation reaches above 1200m. The Papikonda range in the north joins Simhachalam. Veering further south-west they form the Cuddapah range of hills called variously Palakondas, Velikondas, Erramalais, Nallamalais, Lankamalais and Seshachalam. They vary in elevation between 600 and 1350m. The Tirumala hills is floristically rich by virtue of its geographical location, varied forest types, different bio-climatical features, soil and topography. It is also one of the important centres of endemism in the Eastern Ghats. Tirumala forest is vegetationally very rich and socio-religiously important. The famous Tirumala Tirupati Venkateswara temple is situated within this forest. The altitude ranges from 650 to 1000m. The forest type is South Indian tropical moist deciduous according to Champion and Seth’s classification (1968). The soil type is red, derived from the weathering of gneisses and granite and covers about 70 percent of the total area of the state.