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:
“There should always be some flowering and maturing of the fruits of nature in the cooking process.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Surely among a rich man’s flowering lawns,
Amid the rustle of his planted hills,
Life overflows without ambitious pains;
And rains down life until the basin spills,
And mounts more dizzy high the more it rains
As though to choose whatever shape it wills....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“All the charm of all the Muses
often flowering in a lonely word;”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)