STEREOSPERMUM 685 



The fragrant flowers, dull purple, yellow within, in viscidly hairy panicles, 

 appear from April to June with or before the new leaves. The fruit becomes 

 full-sized though still unripe early in the cold season, but does not dehisce 

 until about March to May. The fruit is a long cyhndrical two-valved capsule 

 15-24 in. long by 0-6-0 -8 in. in diameter, dark grey with raised white specks, 

 containing a corky cylindrical dissepiment along which, in notches, the seeds 

 are arranged. When the trees are leafless the masses of long pendent capsules 

 give them a curious dark grey appearance. The seed (Fig. 260, a) is pale 

 yellowish brown, and consists of a central bony axis 0- 3-0-4 in. long with 

 a pair of light delicate papery wings, one on either side of the axis, set some- 

 what obliquely like an electric fan, the whole 1-1-5 in. broad. The capsules 

 usually dehisce on the tree, the light winged seeds escaf)ing and being carried 

 some distance by the wind ; occasionally^ the capsules are blown down and 

 dehisce on the ground. Dehiscence is gradual, and the seeds may be seen 

 escaping a few at a time. The empty capsules often remain many months on 

 the tree. As far as tests at Dehra Dun show, the fertility of the seed is not 

 very high, and if kept for a year it loses its vitality almost entirely. The 

 seeds are collected by plucking the capsules off the trees before they dehisce 

 and placing them in the sun until they open. 



Germination (Fig. 260,- 6-e). Epigeous. The radicle emerges from one 

 end of the bony central axis of the seed ; the cotyledons, enclosed in the 

 winged seed-coat, are pushed vertically upwards by the elongation of the 

 hypocotyl, and the seed-coat falls with the expansion of the cotyledons. 



The seedling (Fig. 260). 



Roots : primary root long, at first thin and delicate, afterwards thick, 

 fleshy, and yellowish brown : lateral roots numerous, fibrous, with nodules. 

 Hypocotyl distinct from root, 0-6-0-9 in. long, terete, tapering slightly upwards, 

 green or reddish turning light brown, finely pubescent. Cotyledons : petiole 

 1-1-5 in. long, finely pubescent : lamina 0-35-0-6 in. by 0-5-0-7 in., foliaceous, 

 somewhat fleshy, broadly ovate or orbicular, usually broader than long, retuse 

 or cleft to about one-fourth the length, base truncate or sub-cordate, entire, 

 minutely pubescent. Stem erect, terete, pubescent, with leaves crowded 

 together and internodes up to 0-4 in. long. Leaves opposite, exstipulate, at 

 first several simple, followed usually by a pair of 3-foliate, followed by 5- or 

 7-foliate leaves ; sometimes no compound leaves appear till second season. 

 Simple leaves sub-sessile or with petiole up to 0-5 in. long, flattened above, 

 tomentose : leaves at first small, about 0-7 by 0-3 in. or less, becoming suc- 

 cessively larger, up to 3-5 in. by 1-7 in. in the first season, obovate, acute, base 

 tapering, serrate, glabrous above, pubescent or glabrescent beneath, sub- 

 coriaceous, young leaves sometimes purplish brown. 



In its early stages the seedling has a strong superficial resemblance to 

 that of the teak, but is smooth instead of scabrous and is somewhat darker 

 in colour. Development is ordinarily slow during the first few years, but 

 growth is greatly stimulated by weeding. Young plants are capable of 

 struggling well against weeds, but their development is much impeded thereby. 

 The seedlings are drought-resistant and are fairly frost-hardy ; in frosty 

 locahties they are occasionally killed back, but have good power of recovery. 

 The leaves are somewhat brittle, and in a heavy hailstorm which occurred at 

 Dehra Dun in 1913 the leaves of seedlings were torn to pieces, suffering more 

 than those of most other species. The seedhng i^roduces a long and somewhat 



