1

Family

Rubiaceae

 2

Common/Tamil Name

Manja Kadambu

 3

Uses:

Fuel (Calorific Value)

-

Fodder

-

Other Uses

Flooring & Panelling, railway carriages, best Indian wood for bobbins, combs, agricultural implements.

 4

Seed Collection time

Shed their seeds from April - June

 5

No. of Seeds per kg

As many as 11000 seeds weigh 1 gm

 6

Viability

If carefully stored, retains its vitality well for atleast a year.

 7

Germination percentage

The seeds are minute and produced in vast numbers but the proportion of seedlings which survive and establish themselves is relatively very small. Artificial reproduction in seed boxes, however, have proved more successful than seed beds and considering the large number of seedlings obtainable from one box. This method can be recommended in preference to any other method.

 8

Nursery Technique

The seed box (trays) filled with finely sifted earth with a large proportion of sand, the seeds are sown and covered with fine earth or sand. Watering with a fine spray should be done frequently but sparingly. Germination takes place in about three to six weeks. As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle (ie) in about two to three months they should be pricked out. Care should be taken to keep a ball of earch round the roots.

 9

Temperature

Absolute maximum 1000 to 1800F and Absolute minimum 300 to 550C

 10

Altitude

Less common in Western Ghats. Usually sporadic but occasionally gregarious on old cultivated lands.

 11

Rainfall

Normal rainfall from 35 to 150 inches.

 12

Soil

Attains its best development on well drained ground and in alluvial ground provided the drainage is good.

 13

Coppicing ability

Have good power of recovery

 14

Seed Source

Should be collected from trees during the season

 15

Special Features

Young plants and coppice shoots suffer more from browsing by Nilgai. In some localities Bison and Sambar do much damage by debarking.