Pendula Ashok - 0.5 kg Seeds

Pendula Ashok is the weeping, narrowly columnar form of the Mast Tree (Polyalthia longifolia var. pendula), an evergreen famous for its slender pillar of glossy, wavy-margined leaves that droop gracefully from top to base. Its tight, upright habit makes it one of the most popular ornamental and avenue trees in India, used as living screens, boundary markers and formal accents in gardens, temples and roadsides.

The dense foliage filters dust and noise, making it a useful windbreak and screen, while the small purple-black drupes attract birds. It grows well throughout the warm plains of India in full sun and ordinary, well-drained soil, needing little care once established.

• Family: Annonaceae
• Native region: India and Sri Lanka
• Mature height: 8-12 m (narrow weeping crown)
• Growth rate: Slow to moderate

Clean the pulp from the ripe drupes and soak the seeds for 24-48 hours before sowing. Sow about 1 cm deep in seed trays of light, moist potting mix kept warm and shaded. Germination is slow and often uneven, taking a month or more; prick out seedlings into bags and grow on for several months before transplanting.