GARDENIA 629 



often consisting of hard clay with quartz pebbles or calcareous nodules ; they 

 exude a clear fragrant yellow protective gum-resin which envelops the leaf- 

 buds. The seeds of G. latifolia sometimes germinate in crevices in boulders 

 and in forks or hollows of trees, and the plants grow and persist in such places : 

 one plant was noticed in the Singhbhum district growing out of the side of 

 a hollow Bridelia retusa tree about 10 ft. from the ground, appearing at first 

 sight as if it had been grafted ; the roots penetrated the inside of the Bridelia 

 down to the ground. 



In Burma various species of Gardenia are characteristic of induing (dry 

 dipterocarp) forest on laterite, or of open dry scrub forests ; the better-known 

 Burmese species are G. turgida, Roxb., G. coronaria, Ham., G. erythrodada, 

 Kurz, G. obtusifolia, Roxb., and G. sessiliflora, Wall. 



The gardenias are characterized by very fragrant tubular white flowers 

 which appear mainly in the hot season and turn yellowish before falling. The 

 fruits are fleshy, and those of some species at least are eaten by birds and 

 animals, the seeds being disseminated by their agency. Sometimes dense 

 clusters of young seedlings may be found on the ground, having sprung from 

 seed which has germinated within the remains of fruits which have fallen 

 from the tree. 



The gardenias are comparatively immune from damage by grazing, and 

 in grazed areas tend to become dominant owing to the extent to which most 

 other species are kept down. 



The rate of growth is slow to moderate. Gamble's specimens showed for 

 G. coronaria 14 rings per inch of radius, giving a mean annual girth increment 

 of 0-45 in., and for G. latifolia 8 rings per inch of radius, giving a mean annual 

 girth increment 0-78 in. A cross-section of G. latifolia 1 ft. 0| in. in girth in 

 the silvicultural museum at Dehra Dun had 28 rings, giving a mean annual 

 girth increment of 0-44 in. A tree of the same species measured for a period 

 of eight years in a sample plot in the Balaghat district. Central Provinces, 

 showed a mean annual girth increment of 0-23 in. 



Gardenia turgida, Roxb. Vern. Thanela, karamha, ghurgia, Hind. ; Ben- 

 geri, Kan. ; Thaminsa-ni, Burm. 



A small deciduous tree with light grey or whitish smooth bark, rigid 

 branches armed with sharp straight thorns, and leaves crowded at the ends 

 of the branches. Wood hard, close grained, whitish. 



Distribution and habitat. Throughout the greater part of India and 

 Burma in dry open deciduous forests, ascending the outer Himalaya to 4,000 ft. 

 The tree is characteristic of poor dry stony soil, dry rocky hill-sides, laterite, 

 Jcankar, and also of stiff clayey soil. In Burma it is common in open indaing 

 forests on laterite, in the open scrub forests of the dry zone, and in the dry 

 deciduous forests of the Shan hills and elsewhere. 



Leap-shedding, flowering, and fruiting. The old leaves are shed 

 about March, the new foliage appearing about May. The white dimorphic 

 flowers, the females larger than the males, appear chiefly in March-April, 

 when the trees are leafless or nearly so, and the fruits ripen and fall during 

 the hot season a year later. The fruits are sub-globose, 1-5-3 in. in diameter, 

 greyish green, with a thick rather hard pericarp and a woody endocarp, con- 

 taining numerous angular seeds (Fig. 241, a) embedded in pulp. The germina- 



