STRYCHNOS 675 



it is usually a small tree. It enters the dry zone of Burma, but is not found 

 in the driest parts. 



Leaf-shedding, flowering, and fruiting. As a rule the tree loses its 

 leaves for a short time in the hot season, though in moist locahties it is ever- 

 green. The small greenish white flowers appear in April-May and the fruits 

 ripen in the cold season. The fruit is a berry about the size of a small orange, 

 with a rather hard coriaceous orange-coloured pericarp and a whitish pulp in 

 which are a number of seeds. The seeds (Fig. 257, a) are 0-6-1 in. by 0-5-0-8 in., 

 nearly circular, flat, light yellowish grey with a satiny lustre and a soft felty 

 testa ; about 250-350 weigh 1 lb. The seeds retain their vitaUty to some 

 extent for a year ; in a test carried out at Dehra Dun 50 per cent, of seeds 

 kept for one year germinated. As a rule the tree fruits well every year. 



Germination (Fig. 257, b-g). Epigeous. The radicle emerges from one 

 end of the seed and descends rapidly, forming a thick yellowish white taproot. 

 The hypocotyl subsequently elongates with httle or no arching, carrying above 

 ground the cotyledons enclosed in the testa, within which is a layer of albumen. 

 The testa is pushed towards the tips of the cotyledons with their expansion, 

 and usually adheres to the apex of one of them for some little time before 

 finally dropping to the ground. 



The seedling (Fig. 257). 



Roots : primary root long, thick, terete, only slightly tapering, yellowish 

 white or light brown, at first delicate in texture, afterwards woody : lateral 

 roots moderate in number to numerous, short, fibrous, distributed down main 

 root. Hypocotyl distinct from root, 2-2-3 in. long, terete, tapering slightly 

 upwards, green, glabrous. Cotyledons sessile, 1-5-2-7 in. by 1-3-2-5 in., folia- 

 ceous, broadly ovate, acute or slightly acuminate, entire, green, glabrous, 

 shining, prominently 5-veined from the base. Stem erect, terete or slightly 

 compressed, green, glabrous. Leaves simple, opposite. Petiole about 0-1 in, 

 long. Lamina, first pair 1-2-1-5 in. by 1-1-3 in., broadly elliptical, acute, 

 base rounded, entire, dark green, glabrous, shining ; subsequent leaves 3-3-5 in, 

 by 1-4-1-7 in., elliptical, acuminate, base acute, dark green, glabrous, shining, 

 prominently 3-veined from the base, with an additional pair of intra-marginal 

 veins. 



During the first season the growth of the seedhng above ground is slow, 

 development being confined to httle or nothing more than the expansion of 

 the large green leafy cotjdedons : a long rather thick taproot of somewhat 

 deUcate texture is rapidly formed, and may reach a length of 8 or 9 in. within 

 a month of germination. During the second season the growth of the seedling 

 is more rapid. Seedhngs are extremely sensitive to cold, and cannot exist if 



there is frost. 



SiLVicuLTURAL CHARACTERS. The tree is a shade-bearer, growing up 

 under a moderate canopy in deciduous and even in moist semi-evergreen 

 forest. It is sensitive to cold, and does not grow in locahties subject to frost. 



Natural reproduction. The seed germinates readily with heat and 

 moisture, and natural reproduction is often abundant, its estabhshment being 

 aided by the immunity of the young plants from damage by browsing. The 

 factors influencing natural reproduction require further study. 



Artificial reproduction. Owing to the length and dehcacy of the 

 young taproot transplanting requires great care, and the best method of 



