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ORDER XXIV. ROSACEAE 



This order is of little importance from a forest point of view, except that 

 many of the species reproduce freely by means of root-suckers and are thus 

 useful in clothing unstable hill-sides. This characteristic may, however, in 

 some cases render them noxious weeds, as in the case of certain species of 

 Riibus and Rosa, which form dense thickets in moist places, impeding the 

 reproduction of forest trees. Ruhiis lasiocarpus, Sm., a scrambling shrub of 

 the outer Himalaya, has an effective means of spreading by long flexible 

 whip-like pendulous shoots which are produced in the rainy season and grow 

 rapidly. The ends of these shoots are soft, and as soon as they come in contact 

 with the ground they produce roots which quickly take a firm hold of the 

 ground and in their turn produce new plants, a dense gregarious mass of 

 interlacing brambles being formed in time. Of climbers, Rosa 7nosc7iata, Mill., 

 and R. Leschenaultiana, W. and A., deserve mention. The former is a common 

 Himalayan species, often attaining considerable thickness and climbing to 

 some height ; although extremely handsome when in flower in the spring, it 

 is often noxious to tree growth, causing suppression with its mass of scrambling 

 branches and foliage. The latter is a large climber of the hills of southern 

 India, very common in the Nilgiri sholas. 



This order contains several important fruit trees grown in India, chiefly 

 in the hills, namely Prunus armeniaca, Linn., the apricot ; P. persica, Benth. 

 and Hook, f., the peach ; P. communis, Huds., the plum ; P. Amygdalus, Baill., 

 the almond ; P. Cerasus, Linn., the cherry ; Pyrus Malus, Linn., the apple ; 

 P. communis, Linn., the pear; and Eriobotrya japonica, Lindl., the loquat. 



The Rosaceae are with few exceptions hill species, the majority Hima- 

 layan, several in the hills of southern India and some in Baluchistan and the 

 hills of Assam and Burma. 



Genera 1. Prunus, Linn.; 2. Pyrus, Linn. 



1. PRUNUS, Linn. 



Species 1. P. Puddum, Roxb ; 2. P. Padus, Linn; 3. P. nepalensis. 

 Hook. f. 



1. Prunus Puddum, Roxb. Vern. Padam, Hind. Indian wild cherry. 



A tree of the Himalaya, at 2,500-8,000 ft., Khasi hills and hills of Upper 

 Burma, often cultivated. Bark greyish brown, smooth, shining, peeling off 

 in thin horizontal strips like that of the common cherry. Gamble notes that 

 there are two varieties of the tree in the Darjeeling hills : (1) a very large tree 

 with crimson flowers wliich appear in March, and (2) a small or medium-sized 

 tree with pink flowers which appear in October-November. The latter is the 

 common one in the western Himalaya, both wild and cultivated. It is small 

 or moderate-sized, producing clusters of pink flowers in the autumn or early 

 winter, chiefly from October to December, though it occasionally flowers 

 partially out of season, e.g. in July. The old leaves turn yellow and fall from 

 October to December, the new flush appearing before the old ones have all 

 fallen, and remaining fresh and green through the winter. The fruit, a yellow 

 and red ovoid drupe 0-4 0-6 in. long, ripens chiefly from April to June. The 



