540 XX\ai. COMBRETACEAE 



reproduction '. Fertility tests can probably best be carried out on shaded 

 well raised and watered beds of loose sand and gravel, as explained under 

 ' artificial reproduction '. 



Geemixatiox (Fig. 206, b). Epigeous. The radicle emerges from the 

 extremity of the fruit and descends. The hypocotyl and the cotyledonary 

 petioles elongate, raising the cotyledons above ground. The shell of the fru.it 

 encloses the cotyledons for a time, falling with their expansion. 



The seedling (Fig. 206). 



Boots : primary root long, moderately thick, terete, tapering, woody or 

 wiry : lateral roots few to moderate in number, short, fibrous, distributed 

 down main root. Hypocotyl distinct from root, 0- 1-0-3 in. long, terete or 

 slightly compressed, minutely pubescent. Cotyledons : petiole 0-5-0 -9 in. long, 

 finely pubescent, often red : lamina 0-2-0-4 in. by 0-35-0-6 in., foliaceous, 

 much broader than long, apex truncate or retuse, base tapering, entire, glabrous 

 above, minutely pubescent beneath, green, often red beneath, prominently 

 3-veined from the base. Stem erect, terete, wiry, pubescent, often reddish ; 

 internodes 0-1-0-8 in. long. Leaves, first two sub-opposite or alternate, some- 

 times abortive and 0-1-0-2 in. long, subsequent normal leaves alternate, at 

 first small, successively increasing in size. Stipules absent. Petiole up to 

 0-1 in. long. Lamina 0-4-2-8 in. by 0-3-1-1 in., elliptical ovate, acute or 

 acuminate, mucronate, base acute, entire, glabrous above, glabrescent or 

 minutely pubescent beneath, especially on the veins, margins finely ciliate, 

 venation arched reticulate, veins often reddish on under surface. 



The growth of the seedling is only moderate, a height of 4-8 in. being 

 ordinarily attained by the end of the first season. The taproot attains a length 

 of 18 in. or more in the same time. The seedlings suffer a little from frost, 

 but the damage is not as a rule serious, and extends only to the wilting of 

 the leaves. In dry localities the seedlings may die back annually for some 

 years before they finally shoot up. 



SiLVicuLTURAL CHARACTERS. The tree is a decided light -demander, though 

 it can stand a slight amount of shade in early youth. Although it grows in 

 dry types of forest it is sensitive to drought, and suffered much in the abnormal 

 droughts of 1899-1900 in the Indian Peninsula and of 1907 and 1908 in Oudh : 

 in the dry years from 1911 to 1914 in Jodhpur many young coppice-shoots 

 died back and the stools did not recover. As regards its susceptibility to frost, 

 Branclis notes that in January 1870, on the borders of Pertabgarh, south-west 

 of Nimuch, he found it had been injured a good deal. It may, however, be 

 found flourishing in grass-covered frosty blanks where tender species could not 

 exist, for example on the flat land fringing the Siwalik hills along with other 

 frost-hardy species such as Stereospennum suavolens, Ougeinia dalbergioides, 

 and Acacia Catechu. It cannot therefore be considered a very frost-tender 

 species. It is less susceptible to damage by browsing than many other species, 

 even goats being not very partial to it. It suffers from fire, and in severely 

 burnt areas it becomes gnarled and hollow. It produces root-suckers. If 

 cut at the right season of the year it coppices and pollards well in most 

 localities, but in experiments carried out in North Chanda, Central Provinces, 

 in 1909, of trees pollarded only 16 per cent, produced pollard-shoots, while 

 in the case of trees coppiced in different months the percentage of stools 

 which produced coppice-shoots was: (1) April, 92 ; (2) May, 100; (3) June, 50; 

 (4) July, 50; (5) August, nil; (6) September, nil. This shows that coppicing 



