Family: Caesalpiniaceae

Common Name: आपटा

Etymology - Genus: Named for Gaspard and Jean Bauhin, 16th century physicians and botanists.

Etymology - Species: Having racemes (a type of flower cluster)

Ecosystem: Deciduous

Origin: Native

Location: Pune, Vetal Hill

Description: Small size tree. Roots can penetrate hardest rocks and can break them apart. Black, gray bark, rough cracked.Simple leaf, alternate-spiral.Bilobed leaf with coriaceous or leathery texture, a characteristic feature. Width of the leaf more than its length.Flowers occur in simple raceme inflorescence, at the end of the branches.Flowers are almost unnoticeable, white, very small.Sepals are fused, appearing as single large sepal forming a bud. 5 lacelike white petals.Flat, swollen pods. Green then turn black, pods are on the tree almost till the next flowering.Seeds are covered in a thick powder like substance and don’t come out naturally. Seeds germinate with two ovate cotyledons.

Root type: Taproot-Woody hard

Stem Appearance: Tree

Stem Cross Section: Circular

Stem Texture: Rough, cracked

Root-Stem-Bark Description: Small size tree. Roots can penetrate hardest rocks and can break them apart. Black, gray bark, rough cracked.

Leaf - Characters

Attachment: Petiolate

Stipules: Exstipulate

Leaf Type: Simple

Phyllotaxy: Alternate-Spiral

Leaf Description: Simple leaf, alternate-spiral.

Leaflet - Characters

Lamina: Bilobed

Lamina Bases: Cordate

Lamina Margins: Entire

Lamina Apices: Emerginate

Lamina Texture: Coriaceous

Venation: Reticulate-Unicostate

Leaflet Description: Bilobed leaf with coriaceous or leathery texture, a characteristic feature. Width of the leaf more than its length.

Fruit type: Legume

Fruit type Description: Flat, swollen pods. Green then turn black, pods are on the tree almost till the next flowering.

Seed Type: Dicotyledon

Germination type: Epigeal

Dispersion Method:

Preprocessing for germination: Put the seeds in boiling water. Continue to keep the seeds in the water till them become swollen in 2-3 days.

Germination time: 5 to 15 days. Few seeds can sprout even next year.

Seed shelf life: 1 year

Germination %: Very easy to germinate

Seed Description: Seeds are covered in a thick powder like substance and don’t come out naturally. Seeds germinate with two ovate cotyledons.