710 XLVI. VERBENACEAE 



The large terminal panicles of small white flowers (Fig. 268) appear during 

 the rainy season, as a rule from June to August or September according to 

 season and locality, but in abnormally wet seasons they may begin to appear 

 as early as April, as they did in Berar in 1915 as a result of frequent showers 

 early in the year. During the rainy season the teak trees are conspicuous 

 from a distance with their masses of white inflorescences. Mr. E. Marsden 

 states that he observed the teak in full flower in the Tinnevelly district, Madras, 

 in January 1917, and that this is apparently usual. 



The fruits ripen from November to January and fall gradually, some 

 remaining on the tree through part of the hot season. The fruit is a hard, 

 bony, irregularly globose nut (Fig. 270, a), somewhat pointed at the apex, 

 enclosed in a thick, felty, light brown covering, usually 0-4-0-6 in. in diameter, 

 but varying much in size, containing one to three, rarely four, seeds. The nut 

 is enclosed in the inflated bladder -like calyx, 0-8-1 -5 in. in diameter. Through- 

 out the cold season the feathery erect fruiting panicles (Fig. 269) are conspicuous 

 on the trees. The fruit may be conveniently collected by clearing the ground 

 under the trees in January and February and sweeping up the fruits every 

 few days ; the fruits may, if necessary, be lightly beaten off the trees with 

 sticks. For convenience in storage and transport it is advisable to remove 

 the bladder -like calyx. This can be done by half filling a bag with the fruits 

 and vigorously rubbing and shaking it, after which the remains of the calyces 

 can be separated from the nuts by winnowing. The nuts vary much in weight. 

 In samples from Burma the number varied from 570 to 850 per lb., while in 

 samples from the Central Provinces it varied from 900 to 1,400 per lb. 



The teak seeds well almost every year, though occasional poor seed-years 

 occur. The seed-crop may be partially destroyed by storms between the time 

 of flowering and fruiting. Insects are sometimes responsible for the destruction 

 of much of the seed-crop. Fertile seed begins to be produced at a comparatively 

 early age. A plantation formed in 1873-4 at Ramgarh in the Gorakhpur 

 district, United Provinces, commenced regenerating naturally when less than 

 twenty years of age. Coppice -shoots flower and fruit abnormally early. Seed 

 from coppice nine years old, collected in Saugor, Central Provinces, and tested 

 by tiio Forest Botanist at Dehra Dun in 1908, germinated and produced 

 healthy seedlings. This disposes of the idea that seed from coppice shoots 

 is necessarily unfertile. Mr. G. M. Ryan,^ however, states that germination 

 tests with seed from coppice-shoots up to fifteen years old in Thana, Bombay, 

 were unsuccessful. Old trees are capable of producing fertile seed : in Burma 

 seed from large trees 10 ft. in girth and over has been tested on at least three 

 different occasions and found to be quite fertile. 



Individual tests reveal considerable differences in the percentage of fertility 

 of teak seed, but as a rule the percentage is high in well-selected seed. The 

 seed often fails to germinate the first year, particularly if sown late, and may 

 lie dormant in the ground for one or more years before germinating. Seed 

 stored for a year is usually found to germinate more freely than fresh seed. 

 Various methods of hastening germination are described below under ' artificial 

 reproduction '. The vitality of teak seed is remarkable. Two instances may 

 be quoted in which seed has lain dormant for many years, retaining its fertility. 



1 Ind. Forester, xxx (1904), p. 45G. 



