Common Name: Mexican lilac, Quickstick. Tamil Name: Seemai agathi.
Mexican lilac is native to South America, naturalized in many parts of the world, including India. It is a small tree that grows to about 6 m in height. The tree has alternate pinnate leaves. The leaflets are arranged in an opposite manner. The leaf stalk and leaflet length measure around 2 mm and 3.5 cm respectively. The leaf shape is elliptic base cuneate and tip acute. The leaf margin is entire and crushed leaf has a strong humus smell. The inflorescence is in the form of a long raceme. The flower stalks and flower length measure around 2 mm and 2 cm respectively. The flowers are pinkish-lilac in color and pea shaped. The flower encloses 10 stamens and a single pistil. The tree sometimes is seen flowering in near leaf-less condition. The fruit is in the form of pod which measures round 14 cm in length. The pod color changes from green to yellow as it matures. The pod contains 3-4 brown seeds. Quickstick tree is used extensively in agro-forestry systems. In many countries it is planted as a shade tree in Coffee and Tea plantations. In Nilgiris this tree is seen till around 900 msl, however rarely used as a shade tree in coffee and tea plantations. In the plains this plant is extensively used as a live-fence plant. It is an excellent nitrogen fixer. The tree is often coppiced at regular intervals- the leaves yield high quality compost. The seeds are used as rat poison. Mexican lilac is the larval host plant for Common hedge blue, Dark cerulean, Pea blue and Three-spot grass yellow butterflies (www.ifoundbutterflies.org)
