338 XXIII. LEGUMINOSAE 



2. Poinciana elata, Linn. White gold mohur. 



A small practically evergreen tree with feathery foliage and handsome 

 yellowish white flowers which turn orange as they fade ; the flowers appear 

 in the hot season or early rains. Wild, possibly indigenous, in the Barde hills 

 in Porbunder state, Kathiawar ; probably not wild elsewhere in India. The 

 tree is capable of growing on poor dry soil, and in the Barde hills it grows 

 in the crevices of trap and basalt rocks, where however it is stunted. It is 

 often cultivated for ornament. It grows fast and is easily raised from seed. 



3. ACROCARPUS, W. and A. 



Acroearpus fraxinifolius, Wight. Vern. Mandania, Nep. ; Handige, 

 havalige, Kan. ; Malaikonnai, Tam. ; Balanji, Coorg ; Yetama, ^nayahnin, 

 Burm. 



A very large deciduous tree, usually with large buttresses at the base. 

 Leaves bipinnate, with three or four pairs of pinnae each about a foot long : 

 the young leaves are bright red. Bark thin, light grey. Heartwood light red, 

 moderately hard, used for shingles, tea-boxes, furniture, and building. The 

 tree is one of the largest in India. Colonel Beddome mentions that in southern 

 India he has seen trees fully 200 ft. high and 150 ft. to the first branch ; ^ he 

 records a tree 27 ft. in girth above buttresses. Mr. Gamble states that Sir D. 

 Brandis in his company measured a tree at Dalingkot in the Sikkim Himalaya 

 181 ft. high and 110 ft. to the first branch. 



Distribution and habitat. The natural habitat of the tree is in the 

 evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, chiefly on hill slopes up to 4.000 ft., 

 Sikkim, ascending to 4,000 ft., Duars, Assam, Chittagong, and Burma. It is 

 a tree of the regions of heavy rainfall, but Mr. Tireman mentions that in 

 Coorg it has been cultivated for shade over coffee as far east as the 70 in. 

 rainfall zone. 



Flowering, fruiting, and silvicultural characters. In southern 

 India the flowers appear from November to January, when the tree is leafless. 

 The fruits ripen from April to June. The tree is easily raised from seed, some 

 of which germinates within a week, while some may lie dormant for as long 

 as a year before germinating. Bourdillon notes that it reproduces well and 

 the growth is fast. It is sensitive to frost. It is somewhat light-demanding, 

 though capable of standing some shade in j^^outh. 



Germination (Fig. 137, 6-/). Epigeous. The radicle emerges from one 

 end of the seed ; the hypocotyl elongates and carries above ground the coty- 

 ledons enclosed in the testa, which soon falls off with the expansion of the 

 cotyledons. 



The seedling (Fig. 137). 



Roots : primary root moderately long, terete, tapering, wiry, flexuose : 

 lateral roots moderate in number and length, fibrous. Hypocotyl distinct 

 from root, 1-1-1 -8 in. long, terete or slightly compressed, glabrous or minutely 

 pubescent in the upper part. Cotyledons sessile, foliaceous, somewhat fleshy, 

 0-4-0-7 in. by 0-3-0-4 in., elliptical or oblong, entire, glabrous, apex and base 

 rounded. Stem erect, woody, yellow to rusty tomentose, particularly in the 

 younger parts ; internodes 0-2-1 in. long.'^ Leaves alternate, compound, 

 paripinnate, first 1-3 leaves with 3 pairs of leaflets, the number increasing to 



1 Ind. Forester, ii (1876), p. 196. 



