Goals: biodiversity

Cut-and-carry fodder that regrows every forty days for years.

A Sundarbans mangrove with night flowers that bats pollinate.

The pioneer mangrove of Indian coasts, first to colonise new mud.

The tree the Sundarbans is named for, now under pressure from rising salinity.

A creeping tidal palm of eastern deltas, roofing houses and sweetening sap.

A stilt-rooted coastal pandan that holds sand against the sea.

A fibre hibiscus of eastern India, quick and very tall.

Desi cotton — the indigenous species, hardier than the imported kinds.

The dye plant of history, nitrogen-fixing and undemanding.

The mehndi hedge of the dry west — scented flowers and dye leaves.