Common name: Mountain pomegranate, Spiny Randia Tamil name: Madkarai
Mountain pomegranate is a common shrub/tree seen in all moist deciduous forest ranges at lower and mid-altitude in Western Ghats. It grows to around 4-5 meters in height, it is well armed tree with long straight spines that almost look like extension of branches. The leafs are bunched at regular intervals on the branch. The plant profusely shoots off branches that are held close to the central trunk. These branches arch down from above-often forming an impenetrable spiny structure. These trees can also thrive well in rocky areas with little soil. The leafs are simple and arranged in an opposite manner. The margin of the leaf is downward facing, they are dark green in color. The leaf shape is obovate and measure around 5 cm. The flowers are found singly or in small bunches of 2 or 3. The flowers are large tubular, fragrant, radially symmetrical, bisexual and white in color fading into yellow color. The fruit is in the form of a berry with ridges-resembling a pomegranate in shape. This tree has its origin in South-East Asia, all parts of the plant are used in various traditional medicinal applications. It is one of the larval host plant for Large Guava blue and Common Guava blue butterflies.
