Dr. H.F. C. Cleghorn on the Hedge Plants of India. 245 



and is used extensively for gardens and fields in Coorg, the 

 Southern Mahratta country, and Guzerat, where it grows in the 

 greatest abundance, delighting in the rich soil along the edge of 

 mountain streams. It requires a much more humid climate than 

 the prickly pear or milk bush. These abound in the Carnatic 

 plains, while the bamboo flourishes everywhere beside the water- 

 courses of the Western Ghauts : ^^ omnium vulgatissima.^^ [Buck.) 

 It forms a dense and graceful underwood: when luxuriant it 

 occupies too much space and harbours vermin. To obviate this, 

 the young thick shoots should be removed frequently and care- 

 fully, and the lateral branches only allowed to remain. From its 

 singularly rapid growth it exhausts the soil where it grows, and 

 deprives the ground of its nourishment, instead of preserving its 

 moisture. " Bamboo fences are peculiarly adapted to pasture 

 land, the cattle browsing on the young shoots keeping down their 

 growth, so that very little additional care is required ^" 



Buchanan (Journey, i. 5) mentions with commendation that 

 Mr. Place, a collector, of Areot, "caused each village to be sur- 

 rounded by a hedge of bamboo : by this measure a large quan- 

 tity of that most valuable plant will in time be raised," which is 

 applied to a great variety of ceconomical purposes. In times of 

 scarcity the seeds are eaten by the poorer classes of Mysoreans, 

 mixed with honey. The inflorescence I have only observed iu 

 rich moist situations, and in these its favourite haunts the thorns 

 are sometimes absent. 



There are several species of bamboo. B. spinosa, by the num- 

 ber and strength of the spines and branches, is said by Roxburgh 

 to form the most impenetrable jungle of India. B. nana (Rox.), 

 introduced from China to the Botanic Garden, Calcutta, makes 

 beautiful close hedges ; and the Behoor Bans of the Bengallees, 

 a variety of B. Tulda (Rox.), [Dendrocalamus Tulda, Nees), being 

 small, solid, bent to one side, and armed with numerous strong 

 thorns, is very fit for hedges. 



Pandanus odoratissimus, L. 



Fragrant Screw Pine. 



Mundige ; also Kaythege-mara, Can. 



A large spreading ramous shrub, 6 to 10 feet high, having the 

 habit of a gigantic Bromelia. Very common in Coorg and Nug- 

 gur, and known on the coast of Coromandel as the Kaldera Bush. 

 The patches of hill rice are often fringed with belts of this shrub, 

 forming a natural enclosure. It is sometimes planted for the 

 purpose of hedging. The leaves are 3 to 5 feet long, drooping, 



* Macfadyen (Hook. Bot. Misc. iii. p. 83), who gives an excellent account 

 of the hedge plants of Jamaica. 



