632 XXXIII. RUBIACEAE 



8. RANDIA, Linn. 



This genus contains about fifteen Indian species of shrubs or small trees, 

 some armed and others unarmed, some evergreen and others deciduous. Most 

 of them have hard whitish close-grained woods suitable as substitutes for 

 boxwood. The two species most commonly met with are R. uliginosa, DC, 

 and R. dumetorum, Lam. A third, R. malabarica, Lam., is a thorny evergreen 

 shrub common in the dry scrub forests in parts of the Indian Peninsula, often 

 on laterite. 



The better-known species of Randia, unlike the gardenias, appear to be 

 very subject to browsing, especially by goats ; this is certainly the case with 

 R. dumetorum, R. malabarica, and R. tetrasperma, Roxb., a Himalayan species 

 which is browsed down to a dense compact bush. 



Species 1. R. uliginosa, DC. ; 2. R. dumetorum, Lam. 



1. Randia uliginosa, DC. Syn. Gardenia uliginosa, Retz. Vern. Pindara, 

 Hind. ; Hmanbyu, Burm. 



A small deciduous rigid armed tree with reddish brown bark and quad- 

 rangular branches, common throughout the greater part of India and Burma, 

 particularly on low-lying swampy ground and savannah lands ; also on black 

 cotton soil in the Indian Peninsula. It produces root-suckers freely, and is 

 hardy against frost and drought ; in the abnormal drought of 1907 and 1908 

 in the forests of Oudh it escaped untouched. The tree is leafless as a rule from 

 February to April. The fruit, which ripens about February-March (northern 

 India), is an ellipsoidal berry, 2-2-5 in. long, yellow when thoroughly ripe, with 

 about twelve seeds embedded in a somewhat soft pulp (the swollen placentas) 

 in two cells within a somewhat leathery pericarp. The seeds are dark brown, 

 hard, shining, obscurely angular, 0-15-2 in. long. The growth of the young 

 seedling is very slow. At Dehra Dun a height of less than 1 in. was attained 

 by the end of the first season ; by the end of the third season, however, plants 

 attained a height of 7 ft. The rate of growth is moderate. A cross-section in 

 the silvicultural museum at Dehra Dun showed 56 rings for a girth of 2 ft. 

 7| in., giving a mean annual girth increment of 0-56 in. Gamble's specimens 

 gave 6 to 7 rings per inch of radius, representing a mean annual girth increment 

 of 0-9 to 1-05 in. 



2. Randia dumetorum, Lam., including R. longispina, DC, and R. nutans, 

 DC. Vern. Mainphal, Hind. ; Sethanbaya, thaminsa, Burm. 



A large shrub or small tree armed with straight axillary thorns and leaves 

 in fascicles along the branches, extremely common as an undergrowth species 

 in the sal forests of the sub-Himalayan tract, and common also in many parts 

 of the Indian Peninsula and Burma, where it extends into the dry zone. It 

 is a drought-hardy species, having resisted well the abnormal drought of 1907 

 and 1908 in the forests of Oudh. It is readily browsed by goats. It produces 

 root-suckers. The fruit is a globose or ovoid berry, 1-1-5 in. long, yellow when 

 ripe, containing a number of more or less angular seeds embedded in pulp ; 

 the fruits ripen in the cold season. As regards rate of growth, a cross-section 

 in the silvicultural museum at Dehra Dun showed 26 rings for a girth of 

 1 ft. 4 in., giving a mean annual girth increment of 0-62 in. Gamble's specimens 

 averaged 7 rings per inch of radius, representing a mean annual girth increment 

 of 0-9 in, 



