Shola

Sholas are patches of stunted evergreen tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane regions of South India. These patches of shola forest are found mainly in the valleys and are usually separated from one another by undulating montane grassland. The shola and grassland together form the shola-grassland complex or shola-grassland mosaic. The word 'shola' is probably derived from the Tamil language word clai (சோலை) meaning grove., or possibly from the Sanskrit 'gulma' for a thicket of trees, which occurs in prakrit as 'golla'. The shola-forest and grassland complex has been described as a climatic climax vegetation with forest regeneration and expansion restricted by climatic conditions such as frost or soil characteristics while others have suggested that it may have anthropogenic origins in the burning and removal of forests by early herders and shifting agriculturists.