With reference to 'Red Sanders', sometimes seen in the news, consider the following statements:1.It is a tree species found in a part of South India.2.It is one of the most important trees in the tropical rain forest areas of South India.Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. A

   1 only

   Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) is a tree species confined mainly to a part of South India, especially the southern Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh (Chittoor–Kadapa–Nellore belt) and adjoining tracts. Statement 1 is therefore correct and statement 2 is not, so 1 only is the official key.

2. B

   2 only

   Statement 2 calls it one of the most important trees of the tropical rainforest areas of South India. Red Sanders grows in dry deciduous, rocky hill forests, not in the Western Ghats rainforest belt. Statement 2 is false, so 2 only is not the key.

3. C

   Both 1 and 2

   Both 1 and 2 would require the rainforest claim to be true. Red Sanders is not a rainforest species, so both cannot be the key.

4. D

   Neither 1 nor 2

   Neither would deny the South India distribution, which is correct. This option is therefore wrong.

Summary. Official key is (a) 1 only. Red Sanders is endemic to a limited South Indian dry deciduous belt, chiefly in Andhra Pradesh, and is prized for its red heartwood in the trade. It is listed under CITES Appendix II because of illegal felling and export. It is not a characteristic tree of South India’s tropical rainforests. Only statement 1 survives.