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Hardwickia binata Roxb.;
papri, calam, katudugu, Anjan • Hindi: Anjan • Telugu: Yepi • Marathi: Kamara • Malayalam: Aacha • Kannada: Kammara • Tamil: Acha;
India (N); Andhra Pradesh ; Bihar ; Delhi ; Goa ; Gujarat ; Karnataka ; Kerala ; Madhaya Pradesh ; Maharashtra ; Punjab ; Rajasthan ; Tamil Nadu ; Uttar Pradesh; Pakistan (I) as per ILDIS;
Location Indore Khandwa Road Mhow Tehsil Indore District Madhya Pradesh.
Request ID GD 27042012: Here is another request ID from me. This tree has a quite interesting feature; one can feel tiny water droplets over our skin when we stand below it. The droplets are so tiny that they can’t be seen, but there’s certainly a feeling of droplets.
These trees are planted along the Nagpur-Amravati highway. These grow as a big tree; a full-size tree photo is attached alongwith. The leaves look bi-lobed like the leaves that we offer on Vijayadashmi, but here they are a bit smaller in size and more delicate. The current season seems to be the season of new leaves. Most of the trees were still without leaves; this one photographed tree had these new delicate leaves. There seemed to be a flattened, dry, pod-like structures at the top; may be remnant from the last season, but it was too high to see or shoot properly; can’t say sure about it.
Yes, looks more like Hardwickia binata. Thanks! Indeed looks like that! What about the droplet phenomenon? That was my first introduction to the tree; someone told me about the droplets. After that, I myself tried it and experienced it too. If you stand beneath it for about a minute you are sure to get a couple of tiny drops (at least in this season). May be a rather common phenomenon associated with some other trees too; can someone tell me about it? Wish I could verify the local name it from someone locally, but these are planted quite out of town!
Is your droplet phenomenon different from ‘sweating’? Rhe Botanists will be able to explain better. But according to me the phenomenon is called as gutation. In this the water vapour which comes out of leaf surface in the process of transpiration. Forms waterdroplets due to change in temp. But … has said “….one can feel tiny water droplets over our skin when we stand below it…” Yes it does appear to be Hardwickia binata Okay, so its Hardwickia binata! We’ll keep the droplet phenomenon aside for a while. There were certainly no gutation-like drops on leaves. What we felt was the subjective feeling of tiniest droplets falling on us on quite a few occasions. It was certainly not raining. I have seen such phenomenon on Indian Coral Tree (Erythrina sp.). Later i found out that those trees were heavily infested with some aphids and those aphids were spewing water continuously. I think those aphids received their supply of water form the tree itself.
I am pasting a link of an image where you can see the wet branches of the tree as well as one of those aphid – http://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/107367.jpg (please ignore those vespa). There were many trees, actually those trees were grown from cuttings and used as a fence, and all was infested with water spewing aphids!
Oops, sorry…I think I got it wrong 🙁
It could be due to transpiration of water from leaves, as … said. But it is a common process for most of the tropical plants, I think. During transpiration the (excess?) water in the leaves is expelled or evaporated through the stomata. Depend on the surrounding weather condition, the size of water droplets may vary, I think. Transpiration helps the plant get cooled. Ref.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpiration If the leaflet has waxy coating according to me the droplets won’t stay on leaf, instead will fall down. Since they will fall as soon as formed will automatically be smaller in size. Similarly since more stomata are on the lower surface of leaf, and it being cooler than upper surface water droplets might be getting formed. And with waxy leadlet and being on lowerside the droplets by force of gravity might be falling off. Interesting discussion.. …, the wasp in … picture looks like Paper wasp Polistes sp..
During hot summer when I walk in forest I feel shower of water drops. These drops are not specific to any tree species. This shower is due to forest cicada.
[In Traditional Healing, the Healers having expertise in Entomotherapy and Entomophagy use it with different herbs as medicine.]
You can feel falling water drops in shade of Shorea robusta trees specially during summer. Shorea is one of the trees used in Traditional Tree Shade Therapy of India. [Google results for Tree Shade Therapy- https://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22tree+shade+therapy%22+pankaj+oudhia&oq=%22tree+shade+therapy%22+pankaj+oudhia&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_nf=1&gs_l=serp.3…340895.349171.0.349537.34.34.0.0.0.0.378.4281.9j24j0j1.34.0.RSk0eidbGG8)
The wasp/vespa is Yellow-Oriental-Paper-Wasp (Polistes olivaceus) and the link of that image is – http://www.biolib.cz/en/galleryuser/dir2990/?uid=4115.
I noticed this phenomenon in my village sometimes back in 2009. As for the ID of those insects i thought it maybe some types of aphids, never tried to check the ID of them. I will upload some more images in a separate post shortly.
And another species of vespa is available at – http://surajitkoley.blogspot.in/2010/08/wasp-n-hornet.html. Both of these two wasp species are common in South Bengal and you may meet them in sweet-shop as well !
Thank you very much … for the ID of those very special insects. It was a long pending puzzle to me. I learn from your note to … that those insects are called cicada, will have to search and read more about them.
However the wasp is Yellow-Oriental-Paper-Wasp (Polistes olivaceus) as have been indicated by you. I have another one at – http://surajitkoley.blogspot.in/2010/08/wasp-n-hornet.html
Please keep distance with Paper wasp. …, these paper wasps are very common here. They do not sting you unless you disturb their hives. A number of them enter into my room everyday to find a suitable place to make a new hive. Moreover, they also come to collect water droplets from our taps, wells. It appears that they need continuous supply of water, don’t know why.
As for the ID of the second common hornet, it is Vespa tropica, i think.
The furry tree, Anjan (Indian Blackwood) Hardwickia binata, Tamil and Malayalam: Acha, Marathi and Kannada: Kamara, Telugu: Yepi
Clicked in Madhya Pradesh on the Indore Khandwa Road… Hardwikia binnata Roxb.: Pls find an attachment
Hardwikia binata.pdf
Habitat:- Hardwickia binata Roxb. is a native species of tropical south Asia. It grows in dry and hot climate, characterised by a long period of drought, low to moderate rainfall and intense heat during summer season. The tree grows best on sandston conglomerate, quartzite, granite and schist, with an overlying soil of sandy loam or, very characteristic, a quartzose tolerates acidic toneutral soils.
Habit:- It is 6.0–7.5 m tall Trees, up to 12-15 m; graceful, drooping slender ranches; crown conical in early life, becoming broader later. Bark of saplings almost silvery white and smooth, gradually changing as the tree gets older to dark grey and rough with irregular vertical cracks, 1.2 2.5 cm thick, exfoliating in narrow flakes. Leaves small, 2-6 cm long by 2-3 cm wide, alternate, pinnate, almost kidney shaped and greyish
green Leaflets 1 pair, sub sessile, 1.5-3.1 x 2.0–3.4 cm, obliquely ovate. Flowers small, pale yellowish–green, in axillary and terminal lax panicled racemes. Pods 5–7 x 1.5–2.0 cm, strap- shaped veined oblong lanceolate, coriaceous and narrowed at both ends with parallel longitudinal veins, containing 1 seed near the apex. Seeds flat solitary exalbuminous averaging 0.8 x 0.3 in, in sub-reniform, pointed at one end and rounded at the other, with a fairly hard testa. Phonology:
The flowers appear from July to September. The pods develop rapidly, reaching full size in November and ripening in April or May. The light winged pods start falling in May, but most of them are blown by the strong wind currents. The pods dehisce at the apex after they reach the ground. The light winged pods commence falling in early May and are often carried some distance from the mother tree, the strong winds being prevalent in that season. There is some sporadic seeding every year, but gregarious seeding takes place on average every 3-5 years, according to locality. The tree produces seeds periodically to some extent every year but gregarious seeding takes place on an average after every three to five years depending upon the locality. In the same year, good seeding may take place in one locality but not in the other. The profuse seeding is suspected induced by a period of drought. Trees raised from seedlings begin to seed in 20- 25 years. Coppice shoots may bear seed as young as 7 years. In India, the tree is leafless, or nearly so, for a short time towards the end of the cold season, the new leaves, which are tinged with red appearing in April. The trees are in leaf in the hot weather, and their feathery foliage is conspicuous when most other species are leafless. Nursery Techniques: No. of seed per
Kg: 4800 to 5200 Germination percentage: 80-95% Plant 100% Purity 0 Pre –sowing treatment and nursery beds not required germination of seeds.. Germination commences after 7 days. Germination is epigeous. Contact us to know germination techniques. Silvicultural characters: Hardwickia
binata is a moderate light – or partial shade – bearer species. Seed collection: Anjan coppice is found
to bear seed when 7 years old, while seedling trees begin to seed in the 20 th year. The seed is flat, about 2 cm long and 0.75 cm wide, straight to slightly bended pointed at one end and rounded at the other, with a fairly hard testa. The seed ripens in April- May Number of seeds per kg is 4800- 5200 Plantation Techniques: The seedlings
can be transplanted into the fields 12 months during the rainy season. Functional uses:
Fodder: Leaves contain about 9% crude protein, but the amount varies with the age of the leaves. Fuel: H. binata provides excellent firewood and good charcoal. Fibre: The bark yields a strong fibre largely employed for making ropes. Timber: The wood is perhaps the hardest and heaviest in India. The sapwood is small and white, the heartwood dark reddish streaked with purple; used for beams and mine props, bridge construction, agricultural implements, carts and wheel work. Nicely written information.. It must be Phenology not Phonology
Hardwickia Binata : 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (3)
Found in Vandalur Zoo. Chennai.
References:
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