Flowering
In spring the tree is covered with delicate star-like pale green flowers. The flowers last for a short period, usually two to three weeks, are not conspicuous due to their color.
Fruit is borne in clusters of 10-20, initially green but turning purple or black when ripe. These are loved by birds such as the Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopaceus and bats including flying foxes.
The leaves are use for ornamental decoration and are used in festivals. The tree is a main attraction in gardens throughout India. The tree can be cut into various shapes and maintained in required sizes. In past, the flexible, straight and light-weight trunks were used in the making of masts for sailing ships. That is why the tree is also known as the Mast Tree. Today, the tree is mostly used for manufacturing small articles such as pencil boxes etc.
Methanolic extracts of Polyalthia longifolia have yielded 20 known and two new organic compounds, some of which show cytotoxic properties.
Read more about this topic: Polyalthia Longifolia
Famous quotes containing the word flowering:
“Ye banks and braes o’ bonnie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary fu’ o’ care?
Thou’lt break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons thro’ the flowering thorn:
Thou minds me o’ departed joys,
Departed never to return.”
—Robert Burns (1759–1796)
“Now fades the lasts long streak of snow,
Now burgeons every maze of quick
About the flowering squares, and thick
By ashen roots the violets blow.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“we, outlaws on God’s property,
Fling out imagination beyond the skies,
Wishing a tangible good from the unknown.
And likewise death will drive us from the scene
With the great flowering world unbroken yet,
Which we held in idea, a little handful.”
—Richard Eberhart (b. 1904)