485 



6. ADENANTHERA, Linn. 



Adeiiauthera pavoiiina, Linn. Vern. Mu7ijuti, Kan. ; Anei, kundumani. 

 Tarn. ; Ywegyi, Burm. 



A handsome deciduous tree of the eastern sub-Himalayan tract, Burma, 

 the Andamans, and the Western Ghats, often planted for ornament, especially 

 in southern India. It attains a height of about 60 ft. The red wood is used 

 for cabinet work and the scarlet seeds are used for jewellers' weights and 

 necklaces. The tree requires a moist climate to thrive well, and can be grown 

 easily from large cuttings put down early in the rains. The seeds are hard, 

 and germinate with some difficulty unless kept moist for some days prior to 

 sowing. The tree is leafless for a short time during the cold season. The small 

 yellow fragrant flowers appear in the hot season. The pods are linear, narrow, 

 about 6-8 in. long, twisting while opening and exposing the red seeds. 



7. PITHECOLOBIUM, Martins. 



Species 1. P. didce, Benth. ; 2. P. Soman, Benth. 



L Pithecolobium dulce, Benth. 8yn. Inga dulcis, Willd. ; Mimosa dulcis, 

 Roxb. 



A moderate-sized evergreen tree with stipular spines in pairs, a native 

 of Mexico but commonly cultivated in India and Lower Burma as a hedge 

 plant, and in southern India also as a fuel tree. On the coast of the Nellore 

 district of Madras it has been planted on pure sand in the casuarina plantations 

 as a safeguard against fungus disease in the casuarina. For hedges it is usual 

 to sow the seed at site, and to trim the plants. The small globular heads of 

 white flowers appear in January-February and the pods ripen from April to 

 June ; the latter are 4-5 in. long by 0-3-0-4 in. broad, twisted, with black 

 seeds embedded in a spongy edible pulp. The growth is fast. The tree 

 coppices vigorously, and stands a good deal of shade. Parker ^ gives the 

 following note regarding its susceptibility to frost in the Punjab : 



' In Lahore it suffers considerably from frost. Seedlings planted in the 

 Changa Manga Rest House Garden grown from seed received in 1912 from 

 Sonora, Mexico, were uninjured by three nights' frost when the shade tempera- 

 ture sank to 27, 27, 26 F., although they were only a foot or so high and 

 were quite unprotected. In 1914-15 plants from Indian seed were killed by 

 frost in Lahore, but plants from Sonoran seed were uninjured, though they 

 were not protected in any way. Hence it appears that the Sonora plant is 

 a more frost-hardy variety than the one hitherto grown, which has not got 

 beyond the South and Eastern portions of the Province owing to frost.' 



2. Pithecolobium Saman, Benth. Rain tree. 



A large tree with a broad spreading crown, branching low down and 

 forming a short bole. A native of tropical South America, it has been largely 

 planted along roadsides in some of the warmer parts of India, and particularly 

 in Lower Burma, where it is one of the commonest roadside trees. It will 

 not stand the colder parts of northern India, but elsewhere it is not particular 

 as to soil, and will thrive even in comparatively dry climates, as at Mandalay, 

 though it grows best in a moist climate. In the delta districts of Burma it 



1 For. Flora Punjab, p. 201. 



