546 XXVII. COMBRETACEAE 



opposite or sub-opposite, subsequent leaves alternate, exstipulate. Petiole 

 less than 0-1 in. long. Lamina 0-2-1 in. byO-1-0-5 in., ovate, acute or acuminate, 

 mucronate, entire, glabrescent above, pubescent on veins beneath, gland- 

 dotted. 



SiLVicuLTURAL CHARACTERS. The tree stands a fair amount of shade in 

 youth, but as saplings appear in quantity in open gaps it seems to require 

 a good deal of light for successful development. It is frost-hardy, but suffers 

 severely from drought in abnorrhally dry years : in the famine of 1892 in 

 Ajmer the branches of the trees were extensively killed, but new shoots were 

 produced from the stem. The tree coppices and pollards well, but the growth 

 of the coppice-shoots is slow. It produces root-suckers freely. 



Natural reproduction. The factors which affect natural reproduction 

 require further study. Reproduction by root-suckers is often plentiful, but 

 seedling reproduction is also frequently good. Like^4. latifolia the tree tends 

 to regenerate in even-aged masses, and this would indicate that the theory 

 put forward with regard to that species, namely that the production of fertile* 

 seed in quantity takes place only after years of scanty rainfall, might apply 

 equally to A. pendula. In 1913 seed was sown at Delira Dun along a ridge of 

 loose earth and also in the trench from which the earth was dug. No seed 

 germinated on the ridge, but several seedlings appeared in the loose alluvial 

 soil accumulated in the trench ; none of these, however, survived the rainy 

 season, being killed by an excess of moisture. Definite conclusions cannot be 

 drawn from this solitary experiment, but it might be inferred that, as in the 

 case of A. latifolia, shade, or rather protection from a hot sun, is favourable 

 to germination, and also that the seedlings cannot tolerate an excess of 

 moisture. 



Silvicultural treatment. Forests of Anogeissus pendula are at present 

 treated either under coppice-with-standards or under improvement tellings 

 for the removal of old badly shaped trees over promising young natiural crops. 

 A coppice rotation of twenty years in Ajmer has been found to be too short 

 for the production of material of a useful size. In the Jhansi forests Mr. J. 

 Whitehead has suggested that after a provisional period of improvement fellings 

 the most suitable method of treatment, in view of the tendency of this tree to 

 come up in even-aged masses, would be to regenerate in even-aged crops 

 imder a shelterwood.^ 



Rate of growth. A cross-section 3 ft. 2 in. in girth, in the silvicultural 

 museum at Dehra Dun, shows 42 rings, representing a mean annual girth 

 increment of 0-9 in., which is fairly fast. This does not accord with observa- 

 tions in the forest, at all events in the case of young plants, whose growth is 

 decidedly slow. Coppice-shoots likewise grow somewhat slowly, particularly 

 in the earlier years. In Ajmer shoots seven years old had a height of 7-8 ft. 

 and a girth of 3-4 in., while shoots eight years old had a height of 10-12 ft. 

 and a girth of 4-7 in.^ 



3. Anogeissus acuminata, Wall. Vern. CJmkwa, Beng. ; Pasi, Tel. ; Yon, 

 Burm. 



A large handsome deciduous tree with a tall straight bole and graceful 



^ Working Plan for the Forests of the Jhansi and Banda Districts, 1911. 

 '^ Ajmer-MtTwara Working Plan, 1909. 



