344 XXIII. LEGUIHINOSAE 



a closer inspection shows that thej^ have literally been shed like leaves.' This 

 characteristic, which is also seen in Tamarix articulata, Phyllanthus Emblica, 

 and Casuarina equisetifolia, is obviously a xerophytic adaptation, and the 

 probable explanation of the phenomenon is that the tree endeavours to protect 

 itself from the rigours of the dry season by shedding the less completely 

 lignified and therefore more sensitive portions of its branch-system. 



The small pale yellowish green flowers, in axillary and terminal lax 

 panicled racemes, appear from July to September, and the pods develop 

 rapidly, reaching full size early in the cold season and "ripening the following 

 April or May. The pod (Fig. 141, a) is flat and samaroid, 2-3 in. by 0-4-0-6 in., 

 oblong lanceolate, coriaceous, narrowed at both ends, with parallel longitudinal 

 veins, containing one seed near the apex. The pod dehisces at the apex after 

 it reaches the ground, when germination takes place. The light winged pods 

 commence falling early in May and are often carried to some distance from 

 the parent tree by the strong winds which are prevalent at that season : in 

 full seed-years the ground to the leeward of the seed-bearers is often thickly 

 strewn with pods. 



The seed is exalbuminous, flat, averaging 0-8 by 0-3 in., sub-reniform, 

 pointed at one end and rounded at the other, with a fairly hard testa. Fresh 

 ripe seed has a high percentage of fertility, and germinates readily with 

 moderate moisture. It is sometimes said that the seed will not retain its 

 vitality for a year, but instances are recorded in which it has remained fertile 

 to some extent for one or even two years. Thus, ' Yepi seed kept over from 

 1908 was tried in 1909 with some success ', but only 20 per cent, germinated.^ 

 Again, Shyam Sunder Lai, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Indore state, 

 writes : - ' We have sown one-year-old seed in the arboricultural nursery, 

 which germinated fairly well, and the young plants were later transplanted 

 to roadsides in Indore and are quite healthy.' Finally, in patch sowings carried 

 out in' 1912-13 in the Saugor division. Central Provinces, seed two years old 

 and not very good germinated satisfactorily in 338 patches out of 1,200.^ 



The tree seeds sporadically to some extent every year, but gregarious 

 seeding takes place on an average every three to five years according to 

 locality. The local extent as well as the periodicity of general seedings varies, 

 and a good seed-year in one locality need not necessarily be a good one in 

 another. When a general seeding takes place the crop of seed is often profuse, 

 the trees being laden with pods. The precise cause of gregarious seeding of 

 this kind is not entirely clear, but there is a presumption, borne out to some 

 extent by meteorological statistics, that it is induced by a season of drought 

 the year before the seeding. The following records of seed-years are available : 

 Nimar, 1874, 1879, 1884, 1889, 1893, 1899, 1905, 1911 ; Kurnool, 1902, 1905, 

 1908, 1912; Khandesh, 1908, 1911. 



Germination (Fig. 141, h-g). Epigeous. The apex of the pod dehisces 

 slightly and the radicle emerges, developing rapidly into a taproot. The 

 cotyledons expand and turn green, extricating themselves from the testa and 

 the pod ; they remain only just above ground-level. The pod and the testa are 

 left on the ground. 



^ Working Plan for the Yerramalais, W. Kurnool, 1913. 



- Ind. Forester, xxxvii (1911), p. 65. ^ Forest Administration Report, 1912-13. 



