BARRING TONI A 591 



and fleshy with rudimentary scale-like cotyledons. The fruits fall into the 

 moist often muddy ground around the trees, and seedlings may be found in 

 quantity growing in soft mud. Germination is peculiar. The shoot is developed 

 from one end of the fleshy embryo and the root from the other end. A long 

 taproot descends into the mud and the original fleshy portion of the embryo 

 enclosed in the testa, and retaining the shape of the fruit, persists until the 

 seedling attains a fair size. This fleshy portion resembles a tuber, and if cut 

 across shows a ring of vascular tissue like that of a carrot (see Fig. 222). The 

 function of this tuberous growth is presumably to store up nutriment in order 

 to feed the young plant in the dry season when the mud dries up. 



The tree is often planted for ornament. It is also suitable for planting 

 in swampy ground where few other species mil grow ; probably direct sowings 

 would prove most successful. It is ordinarily frost-hardy, but at Lahore it 

 was slightly afl'ected in the severe frost of 1905. In the abnormal drought of 

 1907 and 1908 it suffered along the banks of streams and swamps in Oudh 

 when the water dried up. 



2. Barriiigtonia racemosa, Bl. 



A species with much larger flowers and fruits than the preceding. It also 

 grows by streams and in swampy ground, and is indigenous along the west 

 coast of the Indian Peninsula, in the Sundarbans, Andamans, Ceylon, the 

 Malay Peninsula, and Polynesia. 



4. CAREYA, Roxb. 



Carey a arborea, Roxb. Vern. Kumb, kumbi, Hind.; Beng. ; Kiimbia, 

 Mar. ; Kaval, Kan. ; Ayama, Tarn. ; Gadava, Tel. ; Banbwe, Burm. 



A moderate-sized to large deciduous tree with large obovate leaves 

 clustered at the ends- of the branches. Bark dark grey, fissured, red and 

 fibrous inside. The wood is durable, especially under water, and is used for 

 building, carts, furniture, &c. ; the bark gives a good rough cordage fibre. 



Distribution and habitat. The tree is found sporadically throughout 

 the greater part of India and Burma, but not in the driest regions. It is very 

 typical of savannah lands, where owing to its fire-resisting capacity it is able 

 to survive and to regenerate, along with other fire-resisting species such as 

 Dillenia pentagyna, Eugenia operculata, and Bombax malabaricum. When fire- 

 protection is introduced more tender species take possession of the ground, but 

 the old and often branchy savannah trees persist scattered in the new growth. 



Careya arborea is a familiar tree in the sal forests and in the grassy blanks 

 so common in them. In Burma it is commonest in the lower mixed forests 

 of the plains and in the open savannah tracts. Generally it is characteristic 

 of the moist types of mixed deciduous forest, and not of the drier types. 



Leap-shedding, flowering, and fruiting. The tree is leafless early 

 in the hot season, the new leaves appearing in March-April. The leaves turn 

 red in the cold season before falling. The clusters of large pink and white 

 flowers appear with the new leaves in April-May, and the fruits ripen about 

 June-July : they are green, globose, about 3 in. in diameter, containing several 

 seeds embedded in a fleshy pulp, and fall soon after ripening. The seeds are 

 exalbuminous, but have a large embrj'^o similar in structure to that of 

 Barringtonia : they often germinate within the fruit as it lies on the ground. 



