Grey Mangrove
Common name: Grey Mangrove, White mangrove • Gujarati: tavarian • Kannada: Ipati •
Malayalam: ഒറയി Orayi • Marathi: तवीर Tavir, ितवर Tivar • Tamil: Kanna • Telugu: తలల మడ Tella
mada
Botanical name: Avicennia marina Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)
Synonyms: Sceura marina
Grey mangrove is a species of mangrove tree, found in large parts of Asia and Africa. It grow as a
shrub or tree to a height of 3-14 m. The tree form is a gnarled arrangement of multiple branches. It
has smooth light-grey bark made up of thin, stiff, brittle flakes, which gives it its common name.
The leaves are thick, ovate-lanceshaped, 5-8 cm long, a bright, glossy green on the upper surface,
and silvery-white, or grey, with very small matted hairs on the surface below. As with other
Avicennia species, it has aerial roots. These grow to a height of about 20 cm, and a diameter of 1
cm. These allow the plant to absorb oxygen, which is deficient in its habitat. The flowers range
from white to a golden yellow color, are less than a cm across, and occur in clusters of 3-5. The
fruit contains a large fleshy seed, often germinating on the tree and falling as a seedling.
Mango
ommon name: Mango • Hindi: Am आम • Manipuri: Heinou • Tamil: மா Ma • Telugu: Mamidi •
Malayalam: Mangga • Kannada: Mavina mara • Marathi: Amba अंबा • Konkani: Ambo आंबॉ
Botanical name: Mangifera indica Family: Anacardiaceae (Cashew family)
It is a matter of astonishment to many that the delicious mango, one of the most celebrated of Indian
fruits, is a member of the family Anacardiaceae–notorious for embracing a number of highly
poisonous plants. The mango tree is erect, 30 to 100 ft high, with a broad, rounded canopy which
may, with age, attain 100 to 125 ft in width, or a more upright, oval, relatively slender crown. In
deep soil, the taproot descends to a depth of 20 ft, the profuse, wide-spreading, feeder root system
also sends down many anchor roots which penetrate for several feet. The tree is long-lived, some
specimens being known to be 300 years old and still fruiting. Nearly evergreen, alternate leaves are
borne mainly in rosettes at the tips of the branches and numerous twigs from which they droop like
ribbons on slender petioles 1 to 4 in long. Hundreds and even as many as 3,000 to 4,000 small,
yellowish or reddish flowers, 25% to 98% male, the rest hermaphroditic, are borne in profuse,
showy, erect, pyramidal, branched clusters 2 1/2 to 15 1/2 in high. There is great variation in the
form, size, color and quality of the fruits. They may be nearly round, oval, ovoid-oblong, or
somewhat kidney-shaped, often with a break at the apex, and are usually more or less lop-sided.
Chironji Tree
Common name: Chironji Tree, almondette, calumpong nut, Cheronjee, Cuddapah almond,
Hamilton mombin • Hindi: चार char, िचरोजी chironji, िचरौजी chiraunji, िपयाल piyal, पसवक pra-savak,
िपयाल priyal • Marathi: चार char, चारोळी charoli, िपयाल piyal • Tamil: சாரம் charam • Malayalam:
മങാേപഴ് muungaappeezh, നറമരം nuramaram • Telugu: చర char, చరుమమడ charumamidi,
పరయళువ priyaluvu, రజదనము raj-adanamu • Kannada: ಚರೊಳ charoli, ಕೊಲ ಮವ kole
maavu • Bengali: chironji, piyal, sarop • Oriya: charu, chanhra • Konkani: चार char • Urdu: چرونجي
chironji • Assamese: িপয়াল piyal • Gujarati: ચારોળી charoli • Sanskrit: अखटः akhatth, मुिन muni, िपयाल
piyala, पसवकः prasavakh, िपयाल priyala, राजनदनः rajanadanha, उपवटः upavatth • Nepali: िचरोिज
chiraunjee
Botanical name: Buchanania lanzan Family: Anacardiaceae (Cashew family)
Synonyms: Buchanania latifolia, Chironjia sapida
Chironji Tree is a medium-sized deciduous tree, growing to about 50 ft tall. It bears fruits each
cotaining a single seed, which is popular as an edible nut, known as chironji. It is common in our
forests mostly in eroded ravine lands. It avoids waterlogged areas, but occurs locally in clay soils. It
can be identified by the dark grey crocodile bark with red blaze. A good species for afforesting bare
hill slopes. It has tickly leathery leaves which are broadly oblong, with blunt tip and rounded base.
Leaves have 10-20 pairs of straight, parallel veins. Pyramidal panicles of greenish while flowers
appear in early spring. Fruits ripen from April to May and remain on the tree for quite a long time.
Flowering: January-March.
Medicinal uses: The roots are acrid, astringent, cooling, depurative and constipating, and are useful
in treatment of diarrhoea. Leaves are used in the treatment of skin diseases. Fruits are used in
treating cough and asthma.
Sea Mango
ommon name: Sea Mango, Madagascar ordeal bean,Odollam tree, pink-eyed cerbera, dog-bane •
Marathi: Sukanu • Tamil: kodalma, kattarali, kottuma, caat aralie • Malayalam: utalam, chattankaya
• Kannada: Chande, monde
Botanical name: Cerbera manghas Family: Apocynaceae (Oleander family)
Synonyms: Cerbera venenifera, Tanghinia venenifera
Sea Mango is a small evergreen coastal tree growing up 12 m tall. The shiny dark-green leaves are
alternate, ovoid in shape. The flowers are fragrant, possessing a white tubular 5 lobed corolla about
3 to 5 cm in diameter, with a pink to red throat. They have 5 stamens and the ovary is positioned
above the other flower parts. The fruits are egg-shaped, 5-10 cm long, and turn bright red at
maturity. Sea Mango is native to Madagascar, South-East Asia, and many Pacific islands.
Flowering: April-August.
Medicinal uses: The seed oil in plasters applied to the skin is effective for scabies and prurigo, and
applied to the hair kills head-lice. The glycosides extracted from the seeds are active on heart
failure. The trunk bark or the leaves are occasionally used as a purgative, but strict precautions must
be taken because of their high toxicity.
Malay Apple
Common name: Malay Apple, Mountain Apple, Rose Apple • Hindi: मलै जामुन Malay jamun •
Bengali: Malaka jamrul • Assamese: Pani-jamuk
Botanical name: Syzygium malaccense Family: Myrtaceae (Bottlebrush family)
Synonyms: Eugenia malaccensis, Jambosa malaccensis
Malay Apple is native to Malaysia, but has been introduced in many tropical countries, including
India. It is a medium sized tree, growing up to 60 ft tall. The evergreen leaves are opposite, soft
leathery and dark green: the flowers are purplish - red and form a carpet after falling under the tree.
The fruit is oblong to pear shaped with a dark red skin and white flesh; sometimes it is seedless.
The fruit is oblong-shaped and dark red in color, although some varieties have white or pink skin.
The flesh is white and surrounds a large seed. The flesh makes a jam prepared by stewing with
brown sugar and ginger. The trunk of the Mountain Apple tree was used by the people of old
Hawai'i to build beams for their hale, house and for fashioning bowls and poi-boards. A reddish
brown dye for making patterns on tapa bark cloth, was processed from the bark and the root.
Medicinal uses: A decoction of the bark is used against vaginal infection, while the root is used to
treat itching. The root is also effective against dysentery and as a diuretic. In Brazil, the plant is also
used as a remedy for diabetes and constipation.
Bottle Brush
Common name: Bottle brush • Hindi: Cheel चील • Manipuri: বরপ ৈল Barap lei
Botanical name: Callistemon viminalis Family: Myrtaceae (Bottlebrush family)
The flower spikes of bottlebrushes form in spring and summer and are made up of a number of
individual flowers. The pollen of the flower forms on the tip of a long coloured stalk called a
filament. It is these filaments which give the flower spike its colour and distinctive 'bottlebrush'
shape. The filaments are usually yellow or red, sometimes the pollen also adds a bright yellow flush
to the flower spikes. Each flower produces a small woody fruit containing hundreds of tiny seeds.
These fruits form in clusters along the stem, and are usually held on the plant for many years. The
seeds are usually not released from the fruits for several years, but in some species the fruits open
after about a year. Fire also stimulates the opening of the fruits in some bottlebrushes.
Kaori
Common name: कावरी Kaori (Marathi), Bhansuli (Hindi), Narutha (Malayalam), Gurguri
(Kannada), Panisara (Bengali)
Botanical name: Grewia serrulata Family: Tiliaceae (phalsa family)
Kaori is a small tree with slender branches, bark dark grey, leaves thin sharply serrate, ovate to
lanceolate, acuminate. The tree flowers in Aug-Dec. Fruits drupe, fleshy, greenish black when ripe.
It is a cousine of the popular edible fruit Phalsa. Occurs occasionally in moist deciduous forests.
Urn-Fruit Beauty Berry
Common name: Velvety Beauty Berry, French-Mulberry of Western Ghats • Hindi: िपयंगू Priyangu,
Bastra • Marathi: कनफुिलया Kan-phulia, ऐसर Aesar • Tamil: Seembakkulthu • Malayalam:
Thinperivelam Vennthekku • Kannada: Ardri
Botanical name: Callicarpa macrophylla Family: Verbenaceae (Verbena family)
Synonyms: Callicarpa incana, Callicarpa tomentosa
Urn-Fruit Beauty Berry is an evergreen large shrub or small tree with densely hairy parts. Leaves
simple opposite. Eye-catching flowers in a terminal cymes, with four purple petals. Oppositely
arranged leaves, 10-25 cm long, 5-7.5 cm broad, are ovate-lanceshaped to oblong-lanceshaped,
sharp tipped, toothed, dark-green and smooth above, pale or dull and densely woolly below. Leaf
stalks are 10-15 mm long. Fruit is a red, globose berry. Seed one each in a locule (4 locules) This
plant is commonly seen at the edges of wet deciduous and evergreen forests of the ghats. Native of
peninsular India. Extends upto Srilanka too.
Ice Plant
Common name: Ice Plant, Livingston Daisy, Mesembs, Mesembryanthemum • Hindi: बफ़र Burf
Botanical name: Dorotheanthus bellidiformis Family: Aizoaceae (ice plant family)
Synonyms: Mesembryanthemum criniflorum
Ice plant, native to South Africa, is a small succulent ground cover which forms patches of brilliant,
almost flourescent colour in spring. Ice plant is very peculiar in appearance. The plant is covered
with bladder-like cells that store water. They glisten in the sun giving it an appearance of icicles,
hence the common name. Older leaves redden with age, giving the plant color. It has no true petals.
Instead flowers have two rings of white stamens (the male sexual organs) surrounding the female
organs. The outer ring of stamens is flattened and petal-like and only the inner ring of stamens is
fertile. Modified Petal-like stamens are highly unusual in seed-bearing plants. The flowers are
single and may reach up to 5 cm across. They vary in colour from white to pink and shades of
orange and yellow. Today ice plant is widespread across the globe; it can be found in Australia,
Asia, the Americas, Mediterranean Europe, the Atlantic Islands, and North and South America.
Golden Ice Plant
Common name: Golden Ice Plant, Orange Ice Plant
Botanical name: Lampranthus aureus Family: Aizoaceae (Ice plant family)
Synonyms: Mesembryanthemum aureum
Golden Ice Plant is a neatly rounded, erect, succulent plant that grows up to about half a meter tall.
The leaves are paired, free or slightly fused at the base, dark green, up to 5 cm long. The plant is
liked for its unbelievably bright orange flowers. The shiny orange flowers are borne singly or in
clusters on short stalks, are 6 cm in diameter. There are some yellow forms of this plant too.
Flowers are followed by a woody fruit capsule that has five compartments. Golden Ice Plant is
native to South Africa, and grown as an ornamental in India.
Globe Candytuft
Common name: Globe Candytuft, Garden candytuft
Botanical name: Iberis umbellata Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard family)
Globe Candytuft is an old-fashioned annual used in cottage gardens. It's name conjures up images
of delicious sweets, but it is actually named for the Mediterranean area of Candia. This decorative
plant grows to a height of 12-16 inches. It has shiny, dark green lance-shaped leaves, up to 3.5
inches long. Flowers range in color from pink, purple and mauve to white. Flowers have 4 petals,
with two being longer than the other two. Globe Candytuft makes a great cutflower. It tolerates a
wide range of climatic conditions but needs a sunny location and well-composted, alkaline soil.
This famous flower is unusual. It is in bloom in just weeks from seed. Couldn't be easier to grow.
Simply scatter seed on loosened ground in spring. Candytuft prefers dry conditions.
Blue Water Lily
Common name: Blue water lily, Blue lotus of India • Hindi: Neelkamal नीलकमल • Manipuri: থিরক
থোরা Thariktharo • Tamil: நீலாம்பல் Neelambal • Kannada: Nyadalehuvu • Bengali: Nil-sapla
Botanical name: Nymphaea nouchali Family: Nymphaeaceae (waterlily family)
Synonyms: Nymphaea stellata, Nymphaea cyanea, Nymphaea edgeworthii
The Blue Waterlily, also known as the Indian Blue Lotus is a water-lily that is found in India. The
leaves are broadly rounded, 25-40 cm across, with a notch at the leaf stem. The flowers are 10-15
cm diameter, open in the morning, rising to the surface of the water, then close and sink at dusk. It
has blue petals, smoothly changing to a pale yellow in the centre of the flower. There is variety
Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea is the sky-blue colored so-called Egyptian 'lotus'. It is found
growing along the Nile. It was considered extremely significant in Egyptian mythology, since it
rose and fell with the sun. Consequently, due to its colourings, it was identified, in some beliefs, as
having been the original container, in a similar manner to an egg, of Atum, and in similar beliefs
Ra, both solar deities. As such, its properties form the origin of the lotus variant of the Ogdoad
cosmogeny.
Golden Arch Dendrobium
Common name: Golden Arch Dendrobium, Golden Bow Dendrobium • Manipuri: োখাংগোমৈল
Khongumelei
Botanical name: Dendrobium chrysotoxum Family: Orchidaceae (orchid family)
Synonyms: Dendrobium suavissimum
Golden Arch Dendrobium is a stunningly beautiful orchid native to North-East India. It first
appeared in England in 1858. The plant is adored for it arching spikes of 4 cm waxy, bright orange
fragrant flowers, with fringed lip. The goldish ,spindle-shaped pseudobulbs are grooved
lengthwise . They are ended by two (or even three)extended oval tough leaves. The flower stalk
grows out of the apex of the pseudobulb and is covered with up to 20 flowers. The flowers are
yellow,the lip orange-and-yellow with a frilly edge. A very showy species that will develop into
large multiflowered clumps, a pot or basket is needed, with lots of water and fertiliser when in
active growth and a dryer rest after flowering. This can be a difficult species for growers in warm
climates because it requires bright light for satisfactory growth and flower production but prefers
intermediate temperatures.
