Anthocephalus chinensis, Lam.
Family: Ruhiaceae
Common Name: Kadam ----------------------------------------------------- Telugu Name: Kadamhamu
General: Found in Northern Circar tract of Andhra Pradesh. It is chiefly seen along rivers and swampy ground and it prefers a deep well drained alluvial soil. It is a fast growing, drought sensitive, browsable species and a copplcer. Flowering: The scented flowers in globose heads appear from May to June. |
The pseudocarp with closely packed capsules |
Fruiting:
Fruits ripen in August to October.
Morphology of the Fruit/Seed:
Fruit is a pseudocarp which is a globose, orange coloured fleshy mass of closely packed capsule, each containing a number of minute seeds. The fruit looks like a ping-pong ball. The seeds are angular and not winged.
Seed Collection and Storage:
Fruits are collected from the ground and heaped under shade and allowed to rot for 3 to 4 days. Pulp is washed off by hand in a bucket of water; seeds sink to the bottom and are separated and dried. The dried seeds can be stored for one year.
Seed Biology:
No. of seeds per Kg. |
Germination percentage |
Time for germination in days |
9 to 20 lakhs |
70 |
15 |
Pretreatment:
Not required.
Nursery Technique:
The seed is sown in boxes or in raised nursery beds in February-March. The seed is broadcasted @ 130 gms. per square meter of bed and covered very lightly with fine sailor sand after which watering is done. Excessive watering is to be avoided. Germination starts within 15 days. Seedlings are much subjected to damage by insects. Two month old seedlings are transplanted into polypots.