Probably in point of number of species the preponderant family is Orchideae, though, as Hemsley remarks, they do not give character to the scenery, or constitute the bulk of the vegetation.
Thus Asclepiadeae and Orchideae owe their extraordinary floral complexity to adaptation to insect fertilization.
The seven series of Monocotyledons represent a sequence beginning with the most complicated epigynous orders, such as Orchideae and Scitamineae, and passing through the petaloid hypogynous orders (series Coronarieae) of which Liliaceae is the representative to Juncaceae and the palms (series Calycinae) where the perianth Ioses its petaloid character and thence to the Aroids, screw-pines and albuminous Dicotyledons the cotyledons act as the absorbents of the reserve-food of the seed and are commonly brought above ground (epigeal), either withdrawn from the seed-coat or carrying it upon them, and then they serve as the first green organs of the plant.
The herbaceous tropical and semi-tropical vegetation likewise by degrees disappears, the Scitamineae, epiphytal and terrestrial Orchideae, Araceae, Cyrtandraceae and Begoniae only occur in small numbers in Kumaon, and scarcely extend west of the Sutlej.
Other characteristic features of the flora are the abundance of Compositae, Asclepiadeae, and petaloid Monocotyledons generally, but especially Orchideae (terrestrial species predominating) and Iridaceae.