sal (shorea robusta) is the most important tree in the area and it seems to have a preference for the rocky soil there. although sal is a deciduous tree and sheds its leaves in early summer, the forest undergrowth is generally evergreen, which has such trees as mangoes, jamun, jackfruit, and piar. other important trees are mahua, kusum, tilai, harin hara (armossa rohitulea), gular (fiscus glomerata), asan. the singhbhum forests are best in the kolhan area in the south-west of the district. the lives of ho people have long been intertwined with sal forests and there is a strong resentment against the efforts of timber merchants to replace sal forests with teak plantations.