The Flowers appear on the leafless tree in February or March. They are on 6-7 inch long spikes all over the bare twigs, and are a delicate blue or mauve colour and pleasantly scented. They are “pea-flowers,” ¾ inch long, the calyx reddish-purple, the standard petal with a cream centre splash and the keel white. The flowering period is very short and the leaves follow and cover the tree in a few days.
The Fruits are flat pods, 3-5 inches long and ¾ inch broad, very slightly embossed at the seeds, light brown with a grained surface, very like tanned leather, containing up to 3 flat, bean-shaped, dark brown seeds. A large number of pods fall entire without producing seeds.
LONCHOCARPUS LAXIFLORUS G. & P.—Farin Sansame, Shunin Biri, Halshen Sa. LEGUMINOSAE.
A small tree some 15-20 feet high, occasionally 30 feet, occurring commonly throughout the drier savannahs, often in small patches or clumps. It resembles Stereospermum Kunthianum (Sansame) in form and leaf but in no other detail. The form is stunted and similar to the majority of the trees in the northern bush savannah, though larger examples with big oval crowns and a 10 foot bole are not uncommon. A curious branching habit is noticed where the main stem grows partly round the base of the side limb forming an enlarged joint. The branches are markedly drooping. The pale bark, purple flowers, narrow flat pods and greyish-green leaves are distinctive features.
The Bark is light grey or yellowish and fairly smooth, the scales being small, close together and corky. Narrow ridges of cork form on the branches and that of the stem thickens for protection against fires. The slash is yellow with black streaks, very distinctive.
The Wood is light yellow, of uniform colour. In transverse section the rings are marked and the concentric lines of hard and soft tissue very plainly seen. The pores are large and small, few, scattered about in the lines of soft tissue in festoons. The rays are straight, variable in width, some visible, others not, to the unaided eye. The areas of hard tissue are clearly divided into rectangles by the sharp lines of soft tissue and the rays. The wood is hard, heavy, not difficult to saw and planing to a smooth finish with a slight sheen. The weight is 55 lbs. a cubic foot.
The Leaves are a foot long with 5-7 leaflets, the terminal longest, the lowest pair shortest. They are grey-green and waxy to the touch and with the exception of the mid-rib the venation is raised on the upper and not on the lower surface. They are 3-4 inches long and tapering to both ends.
The Flowers are in numerous panicles at the twig ends, a mass of purple at first erect, then drooping. The panicles are up to a foot long and the flowers are papilionaceous with a white splash on the face of the standard petal. The calyx is dark purple. They appear from January to March and are fertilised by bees, flies and wasps and other insects.