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Morphological and nutritional characteristics of four multi-purpose trees, Cassia siamea, Adenanthera pavonina, Peltophorum pterocarpum and Albizia lebbeck were compared for 6 month old seedlings grown in open nursery conditions. Survival and subsequent growth of these four species at 2 years after transplanting at the Biomass Research Centre, Madurai, a semi-arid region in southern India, were studied. Among the four species, A. pavonina seedlings attained poor root collar diameter and allocated comparatively little biomass to root rather than to shoot components during transplantation. Seedlings of A. Pavonina had a higher shoot/root ratio than the seedlings of the other species in this study. The significant difference in shoot/root ratio has benefits for the survival of C. siamea, P. Pterocarpum and A. lebbeck nursery stocks on a drought prone site. C. siamea and P. petrocarpum seedlings had higher biomass production per unit nitrogen uptake and were found to be more efficient in utilizing nitrogen than A. Pavonina and A. lebbeck. C. siamea and P. petrocarpum seedlings had a lower nutrient demand during transplantation, established well and produced more biomass after transplantation to nutrient-poor field conditions. C. siamea and P. petrocarpum showed similar growth patterns and biomass production with greater nitrogen-use-efficiency. Therefore, these seedlings can be selected for intensive plantation programmes and for nutrient deficient semi-arid ecoclimatic conditions. (C) 1999 Academic Press.