CASSIA 369 



As already mentioned, the pods ripen from December- January onwards, 

 hanging on the tree often for many months : they commence falling about 

 April-May, continuing to fall until September or even later. After falling 

 they lie on the ground, where they may be found in quantity during the 

 succeeding cold and hot seasons. If pods are collected from the ground during 

 these seasons and broken open each seed will be found loose in its own cell, 

 the pulp having dried up : many of the seeds will as a rule be found to be 

 eaten by grubs, while those which are not attacked will be quite sound, and 

 in fact tests have shown that they retain their vitality for at least two years. 

 Later in the season, and throughout the rains, pods lying untouched on the 

 ground continue in much the same state, their hard outer shells often becoming 

 partially eaten by white ants, but no sign of the germination of the seed being 

 apparent. 



In order to determine if possible what happens to the pods on the ground 

 and how reproduction is effected, ripe pods were collected in March 1911 and 

 laid on the ground on a marked plot at Dehra Dun with the view of periodical 

 observations being made. Within a week the plot was discovered by jackals, 

 which broke the pods up with their teeth in order to eat the pulp, scattering 

 the seeds about the plot. This plot was left in the condition in which it was, 

 with the remnants of the pods and seeds lying about as the jackals had left 

 them. A second plot, however, was laid out alongside the , original one, 

 and in it another lot of ripe pods was laid on the ground ; this plot, how- 

 ever, was covered with a strong cage of wire netting to keep animals off, 

 and both plots were subsequently kept under observation, with the following 

 results : 



A. Unprotected plot (seeds scattered by jackals). (1) First season, germina- 

 tion commenced in July, after heavy rain, and continued throughout August ; 

 24 seedlings came up, of which 15 damped off during the rains owing to heavy 

 weed-growth, leaving 9 at the end of the season with a maximum height of 

 8 in. (2) Second season, 10 new seedlings appeared in July from seed which 

 had lain dormant for a year ; of these new seedlings 6, and of the old ones 

 2, damped off during the rains owing to heavy weed-growth, leaving at the 

 end of the season 1 1 survivors up to 1 ft. 6 in. in height, of which 7 were old 

 and 4 new seedlings. (3) Third season, the 11 survivors of last year remained 

 alive and in good condition, attaining a maximum height of 2 ft. 8 in. by 

 the end of the season ; more dormant seeds germinated in July, but only 

 2 seedlings escaped damping off luider a growth of weeds, and the total number 

 of seedlings in the plot at the end of the season was 13. 



B. Protected plot (covered with cage of wire netting to keep off animals). 

 During the first rains the pulp within the pods became mouldy and rotten, 

 but the seeds not attacked by grubs remained quite sound and fertile ; many, 

 however, were destroyed by grubs. The pods were kept under observation 

 for four seasons. The seeds never escaped from them, and no germination 

 took place. The shells of the pods became partly eaten by white ants, and the 

 seeds were also to some extent attacked, though some remained sound until 

 the end of the period of observation. The fact remained that no germination 

 took place from the pods in this plot. 



In addition to the observations just recorded many others have been 



2307.2 jy 



