512 XXVII. COMBRETACEAE 



In its natural habitat the absolute maximum shade' temperature varies 

 from 98 to 118 F., the absolute minimum from 30 to 60 F., and the normal 

 rainfall from 30 to 130 in. 



Leaf-shedding, flowering, and fruiting. In some localities the leaves 

 commence falling in November, and by Februarj^ or March the trees are usually 

 leafless. The new leaves appear from March to May ; they are light green 

 or sometimes copper coloured. The spikes of greenish white flowers appear 

 with the new^ leaves. In the Himalayan valleys flowering may take place as 

 late as June. In the Central Provinces, Haines says flowering takes place 

 to a small extent in Juh^-August, in addition to the usual flowering in 

 April-May. 



The fruits ripen from November to March, according to locality, and fall 

 soon after ripening. The fruit (Fig. 194, a) is a somewhat hard drupe 1-2 in. 

 long, obovoid, ellipsoidal or ovoid, yellow to orange brown, sometimes tinged 

 with red or black, 5-ribbed when drj' ; the nut (putamen) is 0-7-0-8 in. by 

 0o-0-6 in., ovoid, pale yellow, rough, hard, sub-angular. For commercial 

 purposes the fruits are collected when quite ripe and spread out in the sun 

 until thoroughly dry. The fruit crop varies from year to year. About 35 to 

 45 fresh fruits, or 60 to 75 dry fruits, weigh 1 lb. 



The germinative power of the seed is poor. The precise cause of this has 

 not been ascertained ; Mr. J. E. C. Turner,^ writing of conditions in Bombay, 

 says that germination is generally backward with regard to the ridged fruits, 

 but that those known locally as bhonga, in which the fleshy portion has been 

 transformed into a black powder, presumably by a fungus, germinate readily. 

 Tests at Dehra Dun with whole fruits as well as with nuts from which the 

 outer fleshy covering was removed, invariably gave poor results. The results 

 were better in the shade than in the sun. It was also found that the seed retained 

 its fertility to a small extent for one year. 



Germination (Fig. 194, b-f). Epigeous. The hard putamen splits in 

 two and the radicle emerges from one end ; the cotyledonary petioles elongate, 

 arching slightly and raising above ground the cotyledons, ^hich are convolute 

 in the seed and unroll on emerging. The young stem then issues from between 

 the cotyledons, and the discarded pieces of the putamen remain in or on the 

 ground. 



The seedling (Fig. 194). 



Roots : primary root moderately long, somewhat thin, terete, tapering, 

 wiry, yellow turning brown : lateral roots moderate in number and length, 

 fibrous, distributed down main root. Hypocotyl distinct from and much 

 thicker than root, 0-3-0-6 in. long, somewhat compressed and quadrangula]', 

 yellow turning green, pubescent, scarcely emerging from the soil. Cotyledons : 

 petiole 1-1-5 in. long, flattened above, yellow or pinkish turning green, tomen- 

 tose : lamina 0-9-1 in. by 1-5-1-7 in., foliaceous, somewhat flesh\% reniform 

 or broadly orbicular, apex truncate or retuse, base acute, entire, yellow at 

 first, becoming green on expanding, pubescent near base on both surfaces, 

 glabrous elsewhere, with three prominent and two less conspicuous veins 

 from the base, veins prominently branched. Stem erect, zigzag at the nodes, 

 terete, green, rusty pubescent; internodes 0-5-1-2 in. long. Leaves simple. 



^ hul. Forester, xxxiii (1007). ]>. 362. 



