Anogeissus latifolia, Wall.

Family: Combretaceae

 Common Name: Axle wood --------------------------------- Telugu Name: Tirman, Chirumanu, Velema

 General:

It occurs widely throughout Andhra Pradesh as a principal species of dry deciduous forest. Identified by greenish or greyish spotted white bark exfoliating in irregular rounded scales and copper red foliage in cold weather. The species is recommended for plantation in sandy loams, poor arid kankar soils and alluvial soils. It avoids badly drained ground and soil with low pH and very little of clacium. It is a light demander, fire resistant and produces copious root suckers.

Flowering:

Greenish yellow flowers in small globose heads appear in December January and June-July.

Fruiting:

Fruits ripen in January-February and July-August.

Morphology of the Fruit/Seed:

Fruit is a drupe, 0.85 cm across, compressed, nearly orbicular, narrowly 2 winged, imbricately arranged in a globose head, yellowish brown, crowned by persistent calyx tubes which is modified into stiff beak. The seeds are minute.

Seed Collection and Storage:

The fruits should be collected by beating off the branches with a stick when the heads start to break up and not earlier. Then the seeds are dried and stored in gunny bags. The seeds should be sown immediately.

Seed Biology:

Pretreatment:

Seeds soaked in cold water for -48 hours give better germination.

Nursery Technique:

The seeds are sown densely on raised beds, the soil being mixed with large quantity of coarse sand. The bed is well-shaded and 45 cms above the ground. Germination is fairly quick. The seedlings are extremely liable to insect damage. The development of the seedlings is very slow.