512 
WRIGHT : FOLIAR PERIODICITY 
Several other trees of Spondias mangifera have been 
under observation, and in only one case were there any 
conspicuous differences in foliar periodicity from those 
detailed above. This tree does not commence to shed its 
leaves until the end of December a (time when most other 
trees are leafless) and is in full flower and fruit on the 
28th March. 
This is a widely distributed species and is noticeable on 
account of its pronounced deciduous character. The trees 
of this species usually shed their leaves during December 
and remain leafless during January and February. The 
flowers always appear when the tree is leafless, and it is not 
until all the floral activity is long over that leaves are 
produced ; it is therefore comparable with species of 
Stereospermum and several Malvaceous plants in this 
character. 
Eriodendron anfractuosum , D.C.—This is a species dis¬ 
tributed throughout Ceylon. During its first years and even 
up to ten years the tree grows relatively quickly. Trees only 
one year old show a partial defoliation in February at 
Peradeniya ; the same trees showed defoliation in their 
second and third years from February to March. The defo¬ 
liation on very old trees is often irregular, new leaves 
sometimes appearing before all the old ones have dropped. 
In the Peradeniya district the old leaves fall during 
December, January, and February, and in the last month the 
trees usually possess nothing beyond mature fruits. The 
last year’s fruits usually disperse their seeds embedded in 
white cotton while the tree is leafless (0/. Bombax mala- 
baricum); often, however, new leaves appear before the 
last year’s fruits have disappeared. The new leaves appear 
with the flowers usually during April and May, after a 
leafless period of from two to six weeks. 
At Henaratgoda and Colombo the periodicities agree with 
those observed at Peradeniya ; in the Province of Sabara- 
gamuwa many trees are leafless towards the end of May ; 
