Reproductive Biology of <I>Terminalia arjuna</I> (Roxb.) Wt. & Arn.

Abstract

Terminalia arjuna, a valuable medicinal tree. The bark of the tree is not only used to lower blood pressure but is extremely useful in cardio-vascular diseases. It, flowers during April-July. The flowers are hermaphrodite, actinomorphic, and epigynous and each has one whorl of gamotepalous perianth. They are borne on pendulous terminal and axillary spikes. Flowers open daily during 0500-0630 h and offer both pollen and nectar as floral rewards. Foragers include honeybees, butterflies, wasps, flies, ants and sunbirds. The fruiting behaviour indicates that this species shows facultative xenogamy, but mostly eliminates growing fruits from self-pollinated flowers. The facultative breeding system is considered to be adaptive for T. arjuna for colonization as it facilitates fruit-set through self-pollination. Natural fruit-set is 48%. The winged and woody fruits are dispersed by wind and birds.