484 XXIII. LEGUMINOSAE 



thin, yellow or light brown, eight- to twelve-seeded. The growth is fast ; 

 Gamble's specimens showed 3-4 rings per inch of radius, which gives a mean 

 annual girth increment of 1-57 to 2-1 in. 



8. Albizzia moluccaiia. Miq. 



A very large fast -growing Malayan tree with light foliage and a straight 

 clean smooth grey bole, branching high up. It is largely grown in Ceylon 

 and Java as a shade to coffee, and is worth cultivating as a quick-growing 

 shade tree for other crops requiring light shade, as it is said to possess soil- 

 improving properties. It has recently been grown on land cleared for tea in 

 Assam, where in the Towkok garden, Sonari, Sibsagar district, trees four years 

 from seed were reported in 1913 to have grown 46 ft. in height with a girth 

 of 2 ft. 9 in. at 3 ft. from ground-level. Plantations of this tree have recently 

 been formed in the Andamans, where it grows well even in exposed situations 

 and is not affected by wind. Plants from seed sown in December 1912 attained 

 by 1916 a height of 30 to 35 ft. and a girth of fi to 2 ft. ; those on the soil 

 of cleared evergreen forest attained in the same time a height of 40 to 45 ft. 

 and a girth of 2-3 ft. at 3 ft. from ground-level. A tree in the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Peradeniya, Ceylon, eleven years old, was 125 ft. high and nearly 

 11 ft. in girth at 2 ft. from the ground.^ In Ceylon the pods ripen in May- 

 June ; the seeds are small, about 1,200 weighing 1 oz. The wood is soft and 

 light, and suitable for tea-boxes and planking. Owing to its rapid growth it 

 should be worth planting for this purpose in suitable localities. 



5. DICHPvOyTACHY.S, DC. 



Dichrostachys ciuerea, W. and A. 



A thorny shrub or small tree with brown or grey longitudinally furrowed 

 bark, found on dry stony ground in central and southern India, Rajputana, 

 the Deccan and the dry zone of Upper Burma. It occurs also in Timievell^^ 

 along with Acacia planifro7is, on land regularly inundated by sea-water during 

 the north-east monsoon, forming a dense impenetrable growth. In the dry 

 regions in which it is commonly found the forest is usually of an open scrubby 

 nature, situated both on hilly and on flat ground. In the Central Provinces 

 it is frequent on black cotton soil. Silviculturally its chief importance in dry 

 regions lies in the fact that it is very drought -resisting and reproduces freely 

 by root-suckers, which are often produced at a considerable distance from 

 the main stem owing to the long spreading lateral roots : thickets many 

 yards in diameter are formed in this way. It is also comparatively immune 

 from damage by grazing. 



The plant resembles an acacia, having bipinnate leaves with minute 

 leaflets. The inflorescences are striking, consisting of cylindrical spikes of 

 flowers, the upper ones yellow and bisexual and the lower ones rose-coloured 

 and sterile with long staminodes. The pods are 2-3 in. long, curled and 

 twisted. The flowers appear and the fruit ripens at various times according 

 to locality, during the hot season, the rains, or the cold season. 



1 Cir. and Agf. Journ. Roy. Bot. Gardens, Ceylon, Ser. I, No. 18, July 1900. 



