Asian Journal of Agriculture & Life Sciences Vol. 3(2), April 2018: 44-48 Website: www.crsdindia.com/ajals.html e-ISSN: 2455-6149 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Morphological and Phenological Studies of Bauhinia variegata L. Anil and Prabodh Srivastava Department of Botany, Dharm Samaj College, Aligarh (U.P.) Email:[email protected] Received: 25th Dec. 2017, Revised: 3rd Feb. 2018, Accepted: 8th Feb. 2018 ABSTRACT Bauhinia variegata L. of Caesalpinaceae is a deciduous tree of medium size. Plant is mainly used as ornamental in gardens. Floral, leaf, fruit and seed morphology were studied along with phenology of the plant. Key words: Morphology, Phenology, Bauhinia variegata INTRODUCTION Bauhinia variegata L. is a species of flowering plant in the family Caesalpinaceae, native to southeastern Asia, from southern China west to India. It is a small to medium – sized tree growing to 10 – 12 m height, deciduous in the dry season. It is a very popular ornamental tree in subtropical and tropical climates, grown for its scented flowers. It is commonly known as yellow bell and yellow Bauhinia. Phenology is the study of growth of buds, leaf flushing, anthesis, fruiting and leaf fall in relation to season or years with climatic factors. The phenological studies are important in conservation of tree genetic resources and forestry management as well as for a better understanding of the ecological adaptations of plant species and community level interactions. The phenological studies in general and flowering phenology in particular are useful in planning out the conservational strategies as well as formulating measures for cultivating such species on large scale (Schemake, et al., 1994; Delanoe, et al., 1996; Wafai, et al., 1996 and Bernardello, et al., 2001). MATERIAL AND METHODS PHENOLOGICAL STUDIES: Ten plants were selected and marked for phenological studies. Phenological data was recorded throughout the year. Following phenological events were recorded. Table 1: Phenological studies of plants S. No. Characters Observations 1. Leaf shedding Time of leaf fall and how long it continued. 2. Leaf renewal Time of complete foliage development. 3. Flowering Time of flowering initiation and its duration. 5. Fruiting Time of fruit formation. How long they remain attached. 6. Seed dispersal Time of dispersal of seeds from fruits. Following events were recorded for floral phenology: 1. Time of floral bud initiation 2. Time of flowering period 3. Minimum flowering period 4. Maximum flowering period MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES: 1. Leaf Morphology: Leaves were randomly selected during the flowering period and measured accordingly for morphological studies. Anil & Srivastava 2. Floral Dimensions and Flower Structure: To evaluation the floral density, number of inflorescence per branch were determined from randomly chosen branches. The number of floral buds per inflorescence was recorded throughout the period. Morphology of the flower and floral parts was studied by using a hand lens. A binocular dissecting microscope and vernier caliper was used for recording the dimensions of the floral parts. RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS PHENOLOGICAL STUDIES: Bauhinia variegata L. (Caesalpinaceae) is a large moderate sized deciduous tree and attains a height up to 10 meter. The stem is thick, slender in shape with cream in color. The plant bears primary as well as lateral branches. The phenological studies include leaf fall and leaf renewal followed by the development of buds initiation, flowering, fruiting and seed dispersal as are shown in table– 2. It is clear from the Table- 2 that the leaf fall is not restricted to a particular time. However, the maximum leaf fall occurred in the month of February and March. The plant never becomes completely leaf less. The new flush of leaves started in the end of March. The floral bud initiation occurred in the month of March. The flowering period started at the March and extended up to April. The initiation of fruit formation occurred in the month of April however, fruit was matured in the month of May. Mature fruits remained attached to the plant up to one to two months. After the maturation of fruits seeds were dispersed by birds. Table 2: Phenology of Bauhinia variegata L. S.No. Parameters Observations 1 Leaf Fall Feb. – Mar. 2 Time of Initiation of New leaf March 3 Time of appearance of mature leaf March 4 Initiation of New branches March 5 Floral bud Initiation March 6 Flowering period March-April 7 Initiation of Fruit formation April 8 Maturity of Fruit May 9 Maturity of Seeds May 10 Seed dispersal May 11 Mode of seed dispersal Bird FLORAL PHENOLOGY: The observations on floral phenology are described in Table- 3. The initiation of floral buds started in the month of 1st week of March and it extended up to April. The maximum flowering period occurred in the month of March and minimum in the month of April. Table 3: Floral Phenology of Bauhinia. Variegata L. S.No. Parameters Observations 1. Time of floral bud initiation First week of March 2. Time of flowering period March – April 3. Minimum flowering period March 4. Maximum flowering period April MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES: Morphology of Leaf: The morphology of leaves of B. variegata was observed during entire flowering period. It is clear from Table- 4 that leaves are rounded, alternate, bilobed, deeply cleft at the apex and 10-20 cm long. The leaf has long petiole, thin leathery, simple forming 2 large rounded lobes, and lower Asian Journal of Agriculture & Life Sciences ~ 45 ~ Vol. 3(2): April 2018 Anil & Srivastava surfaces downy, especially at top of petiole. The blade (lamina) with 11-13 veins extending from heart-shaped or rounded base. Table 4: Leaf Morphology of B. Variegata L. S. No. Parameters Observations 1. Lead arrangement Alternate 2. Leaf type Simple 3. Leaf margin Cleft, lobed 4. Leaf shape Orbicular 5. Leaf venation Reticulate 6. Leaf type and persistence Semi-evergreen, deciduous 7. Leaf blade length 2 to 4 inches 8. Leaf color Green DIMENSIONS OF LEAF: The shape and size of leaves are variable at different sites of Agra region. On the basis of variation in shape and size the leaves may be categorized into three groups which are given below. Small Leaves: The small leaves are 10.2 cm in length and 4.0 cm in width while, 6.5 cm long midrib. The number of lateral veins was 11 recorded during the flowering period. Medium Leaves: The medium sized leaves were also observed in B. variegata. The size of medium leaves was 11.5 x 6.8 cm. the length of midrib was 8.8 cm recorded while, the number of lateral veins was 12 observed. Large Leaves: The large leaf shows great variability as compared to small and medium leaves. The size of large leaf was 16.0 x 8.0 cm with 10.4 cm long midrib. The number of lateral veins was also recorded as 14. Table 5: Dimension of Leaf of Bauhinia Variegata L. Dimensions of Leaf S.No. Parameters Small Medium Large 1. Length of leaf (cm) 10.2 11.5 16.4 2. Leaf width (cm) 4.0 6.8 8 3. Midrib length (cm) 6.5 8.8 10.4 4. Lateral veins (No.) 11 12 14 INFLORESCENCE: The flowers are white and arranged in auxiliary raceme inflorescence. The inflorescence is elongated in structure having large number of the flowers. The number of inflorescence/plant is about 400-500 and total number of inflorescence/ branch is 40-45. The total number of flowers per plant is 3200-3500. Table 6: Total number of inflorescence and flowers per plant in Bauhinia variegata. S. No. Parameters Observations 1. Total number of inflorescence/plant 400-500 2. Total number of flowers/inflorescence 8-10 3. Total number of inflorescence/branch 40-45 4. Total number of flowers/plant 3200-3500 FLORAL MORPHOLOGY: The flower of Bauhinia variegata L. is large conspicuous, bright pink or white or purple in color and arranged in axillary raceme type inflorescence with 8–12 cm in diameter. The flower is 8–10 cm in length complete, hermaphrodite and bisexual. There are 8–10 flowers arranged in one inflorescence. The number of inflorescence/plant is about 400–500 and total number of inflorescence per branch is 40–50. The calyx consists of 5 sepals arising from the margins of the receptacle of the flower with green in color. The corolla is also consisting of 5 petals with white or pink in color and arises from the inner surface of receptacle of the flower. The long pistil has a style, stigma and ovary. Asian Journal of Agriculture & Life Sciences ~ 46 ~ Vol. 3(2): April 2018 Anil & Srivastava Table 7: Floral characteristics of Bauhinia variegata L. S. No. Parameters Observations 1. Type of inflorescence Auxiliary raceme 2. Flower White/cream/pink 3. Sepals Green 4. Petals Pink 5. Stamens 5, Red to pinkish, free 6. Pistil One 7. Style One 8. Stigma One 9. Ovary One FLORAL DIMENSIONS: Table -8 shows the dimensions of flower and their parts. It is clear from Table-8 that the average length of bud is 2-4 cm. Flowers are 5-8 cm in length and 4.5 cm in width. The sepals are 3.00 cm in length while, petals are 6.0 cm in length. There are 4.5 cm long stamens having anther 1.5-2.0 cm in size with 3-4 cm long filament. The average length of pistil is 5.0 cm and the length of style is 4-5 cm with 1.2 cm long stigma. The average size of ovary is 1.2 x 0.4 cm. Table 8: Dimensions of floral parts of mature flower of Bauhinia variegata S. No. Parameters Observations (cm) 1. Length of bud 2-4 2.