BAUHINIA 385 



brown, pink to pale yellow inside. The wood is used for agricultural imple- 

 ments and the bark for tanning. 



Distribution and habitat. Common in the mixed and sal forests of 

 the sub-Himalayan tract, ascending the outer hills and valleys to 4,000 ft., 

 Assam and the Indian Peninsula ; not indigenous in Burma. In its region 

 the tree is characteristic of mixed deciduous forests, often of a dry type, 

 occurring on hill slopes, in valleys, and along streams. Frequently cultivated 

 for the sake of its handsome flowers. In its natural habitat the absolute 

 maximum shade temperature varies from 100 to 115 F., the absolute mini- 

 mum from 30 to 50 F., and the normal rainfall from 40 to 85 in. 



Flowering and fruiting. The terminal panicled racemes of large 

 purple, deep rose to lilac flowers appear amongst the foliage from September 

 to December. The flowers are very fragrant, and are visited by numerous 

 bees, by whose agency pollination is effected. The pods (Fig. 149, a) form 

 rapidly, some attaining a fair length while the tree is still in flower : they 

 ripen from January to March, and are then greenish purple, 6-12 in. by 0-7-1 in., 

 flat, fairly thick, pointed, slightly falcate, with coriaceous valves, containing 

 10-15 seeds. The seeds (Fig. 149, h) are brown, compressed, 0-6 by 0-5 in. 

 They germinate readily and have a high percentage of fertility, which they 

 retain unimpaired for at least one year ; tests at Dehra Dun with seed kept 

 for 14 months showed a fertility of 100 per cent. The pods dehisce on the 

 tree during the hot season, scattering the seeds. 



Germination (Fig. 149, c-f). Strictly speaking epigeous, but shows 

 a transition between the hypogeous and epigeous form. The radicle emerges, 

 while the plumule commences to grow and the young shoot to develop before 

 emerging from between the cotyledons : the latter separate very slightly and 

 the young shoot extricates itself by arching or bending as in hypogeous germ- 

 ination, but after its emergence the cotyledons, which become green, separate 

 and are carried above ground on a short hypocotyl. 



The seedling (Fig. 149). 



Roots : primary root moderately long and thick, terete, tapering : lateral 

 roots moderate in number, fibrous. Hypocotyl distinct from the root, 0-2- 

 0-5 in. long, moderately thick, white or pale green, glabrous, subterranean or 

 at ground-level. Cotyledons sub-sessile, 0-6-0-8 in. by 0-4-0-5 in., plano- 

 convex, somewhat fleshy, oblong, apex rounded, base sagittate, green, glabrous. 

 Stern erect, terete or slightly compressed, somewhat zigzag at the nodes, 

 glabrous or young parts minutely pubescent ; internodes 0-4-1 -5 in. long. 

 Leaves simple, alternate, at first small, becoming consecutively larger. Stipules 

 0-05 in. long, falcate. Petiole 0-3-1-3 in. long, finely pubescent. Lamina 

 0-3-1-5 in. by 0-3-1-5 in., about as broad as long, cleft to nearly half-way 

 down, mucronate, apices of lobes acute, base cordate or truncate, entire, 

 young leaves finely pubescent, palmately 7-veined with a straight midrib 

 between the lobes. 



The growth of the seedling is very rapid under favourable conditions. 

 Nursery-raised plants at Dehra Dun, regularly weeded and watered, attained 

 a maximum height of 3 ft. 9 in. in two months from germination. In one plot 

 17 nursery plants varied from 3 ft. 7 in. to 10 ft. 5 in. by the end of the first 

 season ; by the end of the second season they had a maximum height of 

 15 ft. 6 in., and were in flower. Under less favourable conditions the growth 



2307.2 J, 



