Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Tree Trail - Part 2

Going on with Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Tree Trail, here are more trees,

Elephant Apple(Dillenia indica) is so called as its eaten by elephants. The bitter-sour fruit pulp is also used in India cuisines.

Elephant Apple

Elephant Apple

Divi Divi(Botanical name: Caesalpinia coriaria, native West Indies and Central America), grows as a large shrub.

Divi Divi

Cocoa tree(Botanical name: Theobroma cacao, native of Brazil) is an evergreen tree. The fruit contains seed(which is used to make dark cocoa powder) and a significant amount of fat, cocoa butter. The proportion of seed and cocoa butter is accordingly varied to form the dark and white chocolates. Cocoa bean was also used as currency system in pre-columbian Mesoamerican civilization.

Cocoa tree

Cocoa tree

Garlic Pear(Botanical name: Crataeva religiosa), the nectar filled flowers attracts many insects and birds. At the flowering season, its said to be flooded with butterflies.

Garlic Pear

Shivan(Botanical Name: Gmelina arborea Roxb, native to India, Myanmar) is also called poor-man's teak.

Lemon Scented Gum Tree(Botanical name: Corymbia citriodora, native to Australia), is also called Lemon eucalyptus. The tree resembles the Eucalyptus tree. Refined essential oil from the Lemon Scented gum tree is used in insent repellents. This tree can be easily recognised by smelling its leaf, which smells, lemon.

Lemon Scented Gum Tree

Bamboo(Botanical name: Dendrocalamus strictus Nees, native to India): We were narrated with great facts about bamboo. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants and the air flow through the hollow plant makes an unusual sound, which keeps the Bamboo forests misterious. Most Bamboo species flower once in 40years or 100years. All plants of the same stock flower at same time, the flowering is followed by death of the plants. Its so said that in North East India, the flowering of Bamboo plants is said to be a sign of bad time, the flowering of the plants increases the rat population, which after Bamboo, feed on the cultivated farms.

Bamboo

Gustavia(Botanical name: Gustavia augusta, native to Tropical and South America): The fruit is drum(tabla) shaped with seeds inside, when shaken makes a tender sound.

Gustavia

Gustavia Fruit

Bottle Brush Tree(Botanical name: Callistemon citratus (Curtis) Skeels (syn. C. lanceolatus Sw.), native to Australia): This gets its name from its flowers which resemble bottle brush.

Bottle Brush Tree

Bottle Brush Flower

Wild Almonds, which are said to be natives of Middle East and South Asia, look similar to Almonds, but taste bitter.

Ficus Krishnae(Botanical name: Ficus benghalensis L. var. krishnae Almeida, native to India) is also called Krishna's Butter cup. The leaves of the tree have pocket like fold at the base. As per mythology, Lord Krishna who was fond of butter, rolled the stolen butter it this leaf to hide from his mother Yashoda. Since then it retains its pocket like shape.

Ficus Krishnae

The final trees where the Three Sister Trees. These trees are called three sisters because of their similar shaped leaves,

• Sita Ashoka(Botanical name: Saraca arborescens Burm. f. [S.asoka (Roxb.) de Willde;S.indica auct. non L.], native to India): There is interesting story behind Sita Ashoka.  Sasoka and Nisoka were two cannibal demons. They get blessed by Matara Swamiji to be born as trees in their next birth. Sasoka, who was born as Ashoka( a-shok, meaning without sorrow) gives shelter to Mother Sita, during her stay in Lanka. His brother Nisoka also reborn as a tall tree, stand outside the graden, gaurding it. Matara Swami will reborn as Sitaphal and mother Sita will eat fruits of this tree, during her stay in Ashokawan.
  

  

  Sita Ashoka

Rose of Venezuala(Botanical name: Brownea grandiceps) called as Laal Jumar(red chandelier) in Hindi, flower red coloured flowers, which resemble chandelier.

Tree of heaven(Botanical name: Amherstia nobilis Wall, Native to Tenasserim) is said to be the most beautiful tree of all flowering trees. Its also called the Queen of flowering plant. Its one of the only five trees of the specie left in Mumbai.

Tree of heaven

The session ended, with a group photo of the attendees along with Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Foundation and Sanctuary Asia teams, near the Sita Ashok tree.