366 XXIII. LEGUMINOSAE 



in a porous soil and if sheltered from the sun in the earlier stages ; it is very 

 sensitive to frost. 



SiLVicuLTURAL CHARACTERS. The tree is not exacting as regards soil, 

 though it thrives best on deep alluvium : Haines says it has become naturalized 

 among granite rocks near Kuru, Chota Nagpur. It is sensitive to frost, but 

 withstands drought, having remained unaffected in the severe drought of 

 1899-1900 in the Deccan. The tree produces root-suckers. Owing to the fact 

 that under its shade the ground is usually bare it is one of the most suitable 

 trees for planting along fire-lines, for which piu-pose it has been employed in 

 Mysore.^ Its growth is somewhat slow. 



Artificial reproduction. The tree is not difficult to propagate, whether 

 by direct sowing along ploughed or hoed lines or by transplanting : in either 

 case regular weeding and loosening of the soil stimulate growth. The seed 

 should be sown about April in raised nursery beds composed of light porous 

 soil, the beds being kept regularly watered and weeded : germination ordinarily 

 commences in about five to ten days. Experiments at Dehra Dun showed 

 that transplanting can be most successfully carried out during the first rains 

 before the taproot reaches too great a length. Transplanting with entire root 

 and stem in the second rains is more difficult and is liable to failure unless 

 watering can be carried out for some time after. A fair amount of success 

 has been attained at Dehra Dun by transplanting during the second rains 

 after pruning the stem and taproot down to a length of about 2 in. and 9 in. 

 respectively. Successful planting along fire-lines in Mysore has been carried 

 out by raising seedlings in tile pots and planting them out 9 ft. by 9 ft. in 

 pits 3 ft. cube, no subsequent watering or attention being required except to 

 hoe up the soil round the plants once a year. 



8. CASSIA, Linn. 



Species 1. C. Fistula, Linn.; 2. C. renigera, Wall.; 3. C. siamea, Lam.; 

 4. C. auriculata, Linn. 



1. Cassia Fistula, Linn. Indian laburnum. Vern. Amalfas, Hind. ; 

 Bahaiva, Mar. : Kakke, Kan. : Konnai, Tam. ; Rela, Tel. ; Sonaru, Assam ; 

 Ngu, Burm. (Fig. 144.) 



A moderate-sized deciduous tree with a rather open crown ; leaves pari- 

 pinnate with four to eight leaflets 2-6 in. long. Bark about 0-25 in. thick, in 

 younger trees smooth, light grey, reddish brown inside, in older trees reddish 

 brown, exfoliating in hard scales. This is one of the most beautiful of Indian 

 flowering trees. Wood hard and durable, in demand for house-posts, carts, 

 and agricultural implements. The pulp of the pods is a strong purgative 

 (ihe Cassia Pulpa of the British Pharmacopoeia), while the bark is much in 

 demand for tanning. 



Distribution and habitat. Common in deciduous forests throughout 

 the greater part of India and Burma, ascending to 4,000 ft. in the Himalaya ; 

 also in Ceylon. The tree is not gregarious, but is scattered in mixed deciduous 

 forests, often of a somewhat open type : it occurs fairly frequently in sal forest. 

 Sometimes it approaches gregariousness in localities frequented by monkeys 



1 Ind. Forester, ix (1883), p. 143. 



