Caesalpinia SAPPAN

Caesalpinia SAPPAN - Sappanwood, Indian redwood, Patanga, Biancaea sappan.

Caesalpinia belongs to the extensive Fabaceae family, containing according to various sources from 60 to 150 plant species. All growth territories fall in warm regions of both hemispheres of the planet, however the native origin range of this plant includes the lands of Argentina, Uruguay, the island of Barbados, southeastern regions of Asia, and tropical America.

All representatives of the genus possess a shrubby or tree-like growth habit; in rare cases they take the form of lianas (that is, presented as climbing shrubs). When grown indoors, the plant height does not exceed 1.5 m (5 ft). Their shoots often bear thorns. On the branches, leaves form with bipinnate and compound-palmate outlines, which somewhat resemble the lacy foliage of acacia, but in this legume representative the structure is somewhat more complex. The leaflets are remarkably symmetrical, colored bright light green. Curiously, with the arrival of evening hours, the plant's leaves begin to fold, which makes them considered even more ornamental.

During flowering, buds gathered in racemose inflorescences begin to open at shoot tips. Unopened buds look like small balls or wheels. Flowers are distinguished by large sizes and yellow, orange, cream, or red shades, but specimens with two-toned petal coloring also occur. There are five lobes in the calyx; the lower one is concave and usually exceeds the others in size. The corolla also has five petals; their dimensions are often equal or the upper one is smaller than all the others. Inside the corolla grow five pairs of free stamens; the ovary is sessile. It is the stamens that lend exoticism to the flower, as they hang freely from the corolla, resembling whiskers. In nature, the fragrant and bright flowers attract all sorts of insects (bees), butterflies, and even hummingbird birds for pollination.

After flower pollination, a pod-like fruit matures with a leathery surface, which can be inflated or flat; upon ripening, it either dehisces or remains closed. Seeds are located inside, which can be scattered by the plant if the pod dehisces.

Caesalpinia sappan is a small evergreen spreading tree up to 8 m (26 ft) tall, with gray-brown, rough bark covered with prickles. Leaves are bipinnate, up to 45 cm (17.7 in) long. Each leaf consists of 8-16 pairs of pinnae, each consisting of 10-20 pairs of oblong glossy leaflets. Flowers are lemon-yellow, gathered in racemes. Fruits are flat woody pods up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long with a beak-like curved tip. Each pod contains 2-5 flat brown seeds.

A day or two before sowing, it is required to soak the seeds in warm water. Then they are scarified - carefully using a nail file, rub the seed coat, while it is important not to damage its inner part. Sowing is performed in a peat-sand mixture, thoroughly moistened before sowing. Seed planting depth equals 0.5 cm (0.2 in). During germination, the substrate must always remain moist, but not waterlogged. Then the sowing container is covered with a piece of glass or wrapped in a transparent plastic bag. The place where the pot with seeds is placed should be well-lit, and the temperature is maintained in the range of 20-25 °C (68-77 °F). When caring for crops, the cover should be removed daily for 10-15 minutes, and if the soil begins to dry out, spray it with a spray bottle. The first sprouts may appear in 10 days as well as after 4 months. After a pair of true leaves develops on the plants, transplanting into separate pots can be performed.

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The plant prefers a brightly lit place where it will have at least 8 hours of good illumination. It is best to place the pot on an east or west windowsill. If there is not enough light, flowering will not occur. In the spring-summer period, the temperature range is 21-25 °C (70-77 °F); with the arrival of autumn, optimal values are 15-18 °C (59-64 °F). Air humidity when cultivating the plant should be moderate, but it can adapt to dry indoor air; however, it is better to carry out periodic misting of the foliage. As flowers fade, they should be removed from the bush. Pruning is recommended in spring, but it should be remembered that inflorescences will develop on current year growth, and if pruning is delayed, flowering might not occur. The plant is used for growing in the bonsai technique. In the summer period, it is recommended to take it outdoors into fresh air.

Watering in summer requires regularity - every 2-3 days. With the arrival of winter, soil moistening becomes less frequent, its top layer should slightly dry out. When the plant is young, excessive drying of the soil ball is fatal to it, although mature specimens subsequently cope easily with drought. If watering is insufficient, flowers may fail to form. Fertilization is carried out from the beginning of the growing season with a frequency of once every 14 days. In early spring, preparations with increased nitrogen content are recommended - this is necessary for building leaf mass, and to improve flowering, fertilizers dominated by phosphorus and potassium should be applied.

While the plant is young, it must be repotted annually, but over time such a pot change is recommended only once every 2 years. A new pot is chosen 2-3 cm (0.8-1.2 in) larger than the old one. A drainage layer is laid on the bottom. In doing so, it should be noted that the most active growth and flowering are observed when the root system is completely interwoven and fills the entire pot space. Only when root offsets become visible in drainage holes is it a signal to change pots. A simple substrate with moderate fertility will do - for example, a mixture of leaf soil and sod soil, with the addition of coarse sand. Commercial mixes based on sphagnum peat with added perlite or vermiculite can be used. The acidity of such a soil mixture should be neutral (pH 6.5-7.5). When repotting, remember that damage to the root system of a young caesalpinia will lead to its demise, so this operation is performed by the pot transfer method.