CASSIA 375 



be an open one, trees and bushes being removed if they are present. Direct 

 sowing has given much better results than transplanting, and it has been found 

 advantageous to plough up the land before sowing. The sowing may be done 

 either broadcast or in lines : the latter method is considered preferable as it 

 facilitates weeding, thinning out the seedlings, and loosening the soil. Lines 

 3 to 4 ft. apart produce a dense crop. In southern India June has been found 

 to be the best month for sowing, except where the monsoon rains are heavy, 

 in which case October is preferable. The seedlings should be thinned out 

 during the first season where necessary ; weeding and cultivation of the soil, 

 though not always essential, stimulate growth. Irrigation is not necessary 

 except in an arid climate like that of Sind, where irrigated sowings are said 

 to have produced a height-growth of 20 ft. in two years. Nevertheless^ 

 irrigation is sometimes carried out during the first two years in the normal 

 climatic region of the plant, and this hastens growth. With suitable tending, 

 but without irrigation, the plants should reach a height of about 4 or 5 ft. in 

 the second year, or under favourable conditions more. 



9. BAUHINIA, Linn. 



This genus contains over thirty Indian species, of which the majority are 

 climbers, more than a third being trees and shrubs. They are easily recognized 

 from the two leaflets being united for a portion of their length, forming 

 a bilobed palmately veined leaf. Although none of the trees are of great 

 importance as producers of timber, the bauhinias are of special interest as 

 being widely represented throughout the forests of India and being charac- 

 teristic members of many different forest types. Some are useful indirectly, 

 for example B. purpurea for stocking frosty blanks, B. racemosa for afforesting 

 open places, B. retusa for clothing hill slopes. 



Among the better known species five are described below in some detail, and 

 these contain certain characters in common. They require care in transplanting, 

 the roots being somewhat sensitive. The fruit forms rapidly and ripens soon 

 after flowering, except in B. racetnosa, which takes several months to ripen 

 its pods. The pods dehisce as a rule on the tree, scattering the seeds : this 

 is particularly marked in the climber B. Vahlii, whose hard woody pods open 

 with a crack in sunny weather and shoot the seeds to some distance. B. mala- 

 harica is an exception to the rule, the pods usually^eaching the ground before 

 dehiscing. The seed germinates readily, but in certain species (e. g. B. mala- 

 barica and B. racemosa) so le of the seed may lie dormant for a year before 

 germinating. It is of great advantage to successful reproduction if the seed 

 becomes covered before germination, since the radicles of seeds germinating 

 on the surface of the ground are liable to be eaten by birds or insects or to 

 dry up before gaining a footing in the soil. Germination of the species studied 

 is epigeous, but two species {B. purpurea and B. variegata) are interesting as 

 showing a transition between hypogeous and epigeous germination. 



The genus contains several climbers which are noxious to tree growth 

 and require to be cut periodically in the forest. The best known is B. Vahlii, 

 W. and A., a gigantic climber sometimes reaching a girth of 4 or 5 ft. or even 

 more ; its eradication is difflcult, since when cut down it at once sends out 

 from the base new shoots which grow at a very rapid rate. 



