Again Good set of pictures Raman Ji. On Mon, Jan 2, 2012 at 10:45 AM, raman <[email protected]> wrote:
> Large, handsome and spreading, the Rain Tree is easily recognised by its > umbrella like canopy of evergreen, feathery foliage and puffs of pink > flowers. It is frequently planted in groups or as an avenue because of its > ability to keep its symmetrical conformation in spite of prevailing winds. > It is a tree of rapid growth, brought originally from Central America to > Sri Lanka and forwarded from there because it was considered to be a tree > of great value for railway fuel. It often reaches a height of 27 m. and the > strong, spreading branches may be nearly as long. The bark is dark grey, > often bearing horizontal weals and the trunk frequently branches quite low > down. From March to May and again towards the end of the year the green > canopy is dotted all over with pink and white. During the rest of the year, > too, there are usually quite a few flowers to be seen. The flowers appear > like round, silken tufts, but actually each flower stalk bears one central > and a surrounding circlet of florets, up to twenty in number. Each has a > tube-shaped calyx and a tiny, yellow-lobed, crimson trumpet; bunches of > long stamens, half pink and half white, protrude from each. The long, heavy > leaves are twice pinnate and each pinna, of which there are four to eight > pairs, bears from three to seven pairs of leaflets. These are oval and have > no stalks, becoming larger and more curved towards the end. on its > thickened base so that the leaves all lie sideways. In Malaysia this > drooping of the leaves is considered to portend rain and is the explanation > of the name Rain Tree, Hujan-hujan meaning "rain", but in India it is > believed that the name was given because of a curious habit possessed by > the tree of intermittently spraying the ground beneath with moisture. Later > it was discovered that this was caused by multitudinous minute insects. The > fruit is a fleshy pod, sweet to the taste and much relished by squirrels, > horses and cattle > > Raman > -- B. Rathinasabapathy Project Co-ordinator Nilgiri Biosphere Nature Park 1388, Avinashi Road Peelamedu Coimbatore-641004 <http://mail.google.com/subscribe.mhtml>
