Flora and Fauna

Flora

Sirajganj district is located almost at the middle of Bangladesh. It is surrounded by Bogra district on the north, Natore district on the west, Pabna district on the south and the river Jamuna on the east. The level of land almost the entire district is appreciably low in comparison to the land of the adjacent districts. All these factors have got some influence over the growth of plants and trees in the district. A wide variety of natural vegetation grows in the district depending on the environmental conditions. In the vast char areas which are frequently eroded and rebuilt the variety.

Zhau (Casuarina equisetifolia) is a common plant of the uncultivable lands of the chars and is much needed for fuel and fodder during the rainy season. Besides, agricultural crops and plantations grow well in the chars. The marshes in the district yield reeds in large quantities, which are used for house building purpose and as well as for firewood. A small prickly fruit ‘Senkhur is also found in them and is highly esteemed by the people.

Uncultivated areas are covered by abundant natural vegetation. A bandoned river-beds, ponds and marshes as well as streams with a sluggish current have usually thick growth of herbaceous plants such as vallisineria (syala), potamogeton, enhygra and utricalaria etc. Areas subject to inundation
have generally a covering of tamarix, a shrub that grows generally on river banks of beds of northern part of the country (variously known as zhau, ban-zhau, lal-zhau etc.) and reedy grasses. Among other aquatic plants, the following are commonly found, two types of waterlily, namely, jati shaluk and sindhu shaluk, helancha, bagha-helencha (Tilanthera philoxcroides), checkra, deo- dhan, bhura-dhan, shonda etc. Most of these plants are the source of various edible products to the local people. The shonda, however is used for making mats.

The country side is wooded with bamboo (Bambusa bambos), clumps, peepal, banyan (Ficus benghalensis), babul (Acacia arabica), red cotton (Salmalia malabarica), jack-fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), bel (Aegle marmelos), tamarind (Tamariandus indica), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and date-palm (Phoenix sylv estris). The villages are generally surrounded by thickets and shrub beries of semi-spontaneous and more of less useful trees, while waste lands are, for the most part, covered with grasses such as Imperate cylindrical (Ulu) and chrysopogon aciculatus (Charakanta). Besides these, plants locally known as mashna, black pea, spices such as vandhun, gua-mauri, etc, are grown abound in the district.

The main timber trees are the mango (Mangifera indica), jack-fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), jam (syzygium cumini), cotton tree (Bombam ceoba), neem (Azadirachta indica) and pitraj (Aphanamixls polystachia). Their wood is used for making doors, windows and household furniture. The wood of the Babul is largely used for cart wheels. Bamboos are abundant and furnish the most common materials for house building. The patipata (Clinogyne dichotoma) is cultivated in the neighborhood Sirajganj for the manufacture of mats, while calamus which abounds in swampy areas, is used for making baskets.

In addition to these, a jungle plant called zhau, extensively used as fuel grows in several parts of the district and is a source of income to some. There is no forest but there are extensive patches of jungles in some parts of the district.