NORTH INDIA— WOOD 317 



eifera). It is a medium-sized, flowering species whose biennial 

 blooms spring almost altogether from openings in the bark of the 

 bole and branches, and give no indication of the remarkable fruit 

 that is to follow. One barely notices the inconspicuous tree and its 

 flowers, but later on is struck by the appearance on stem and branches 

 of a profusion of yellow, juicy, candlelike fruit. Surely it can not 

 be the same tree! The long, cylindrical fruit (see the illustration) 

 bears a remarkable resemblance to the old-fashioned tallow candles 

 of our forefathers. Little use is made of these natural " candles," 

 except that in times of stress they are said to be eaten by the natives. 



Si)eaking of " introduced " species of plants and animals, it is by 

 no means easy to sa}^ how long flora and fauna must live and propa- 

 gate their kind in a new land before they can claim a place among 

 the citizens of the country into which the}^ come as migrants. It is 

 a matter of opinion. For example, among the Indian flowering 

 trees are the Brownias (already mentioned) that dispute the title 

 with Amherstia as the most beautiful blossoming trees in the world, 

 yet the members of the former genus were originally South Ameri- 

 can. The most attractive of them all and the one that I know best is 

 B. grandicefs^ the rose of Venezuela, that reaches a height of 40 

 feet. When in full bloom this tree is one blaze of glory from bunches 

 of bright red flowers borne in large, dense heads at the extremities of 

 the branches. As in the case of Aviherstia^ the foliage is also very 

 conspicuous. The young mottled leaves are grown as long flaccid 

 bunches, giving the tree the appearance of bearing two dissimilar 

 sets of flowers. 



One of the most striking and showy of eastern silva is the so- 

 called pride of India or queen's flower {Lagerstroerma flos-reginae) , 

 named after the East Indian botanist Magnus van Lagerstroem. It 

 is found all over India, Ceylon, and Malaya and from April to 

 October bears from the ends of its branches erect panicles of lovely 

 bright pink or mauve blooms. With the exception of a short time 

 during the rainless season these beautiful trees retain their green 

 foliage. The margin of the pretty Kandy Lake in Ceylon is bright- 

 ened by many flowering trees, but none more attractive than this 

 magnificent species. 



I have always been intrigued by a flowering tree whose acquain- 

 tance I first made in India, the Bauhinm 'purpurea^ a species of that 

 interesting genus whose name is derived from the related facts that 

 its leaves are joined in twos at the base and that there lived and 

 worked in the seventeenth century two Swiss brothers, scientific 

 twins, members of a family celebrated as physicians and botanists. 

 How appropriate that Caspar and Jean Bauhin should sponsor this 

 interesting tree, now an adornment of many gardens all over the 



