Masting refers to a mass seeding phenomenon exhibited by some species of plants which can be defined as "synchronous production of seed at long intervals by a population of plants", strict masting only occurs in species that are monocarpic

Monocarpic

Monocarpic plants are those that flower, set seeds and then die. Other terms with the same meaning are hapaxanth and semelparous. The term was first used by Alphonse de Candolle....

 (or semelparous) -- individuals of the species only reproduce once during their lifetime, then die.

Mast seeding happens in a Mast year

Mast year

A mast year is a year in which vegetation produces a significant abundance of mast . The term originally applied solely to trees, like oak trees, that produce fruit useful for feeding farm animals...

 related to that particular species in that particular region.

See also

• Mast year
  Mast year
  A mast year is a year in which vegetation produces a significant abundance of mast . The term originally applied solely to trees, like oak trees, that produce fruit useful for feeding farm animals...
  
  
• Plietesials
  Plietesials
  Plietesials are plants that grow for a number of years, flower gregariously , set seed and then die.The length of the cycle can vary between 8 and 16 years...
  
  
• Monocarpic
  Monocarpic
  Monocarpic plants are those that flower, set seeds and then die. Other terms with the same meaning are hapaxanth and semelparous. The term was first used by Alphonse de Candolle....
  
  
• Strobilanthes callosus
  Strobilanthes callosus
  Strobilanthes callosus Nees is a shrub found mainly in the low hills of the western ghats all along the west coast of India. Its standardized Hindi language name is Maruadona by which it is called in the state of Madhya Pradesh where it is also found...
  
  
• Strobilanthes kunthiana
  Strobilanthes kunthiana
  Neelakurinji , is a shrub that used to grow abundantly in the shola grasslands of the Western Ghats in South India above 1800 metres...