Explore Plants
Indian plants documented for the way people actually garden — filter by what you want the plant to do, the space you have, the month you can sow and the region you are in. The result count below is live.
Use the filters on the plant archive to narrow by goal, growing space and season. Every record carries a Hindi name, a botanical name, a care note and the months in which to sow.
98 plants match your filters Answer three questions on the home page — your region, your space and your goal — and we will name two plants to sow this month.Filters2 on
Resurrection FernसंजीवनीSelaginella bryopterisThe sanjeevani of the rocks — curls up bone dry, then greens again in an hour of rain.
Kodo MilletकोदोPaspalum scrobiculatumThe kodo of the Deccan and central hills — drought-proof and long-storing.Proso MilletचीनाPanicum miliaceumA short-season millet of the northern hills, sown when the season has been lost.Marvel Grassअंजन घासCenchrus ciliarisThe anjan of dry pasture — a fodder grass that greens the Thar within days of rain.CattailपटेराTypha angustifoliaBrown flower spikes over strap leaves; the reed that cleans a village pond.Common ReedनरकुलPhragmites karkaThe tall reed of Indian riverbanks, and the standard plant for a reed-bed filter.Sacred GrassकुशDesmostachya bipinnataThe kusha grass of ritual, holding sandy soil across the northern plains.Spear GrassसरकंडाSaccharum spontaneumSilver plumes across the riverbanks after the monsoon; the kans of the floodplain.
Indian Screw Treeमरोड़फलीHelicteres isoraTwisted screw-shaped pods on a scrub shrub of the dry deciduous forest.
Lasodaलसोड़ाCordia myxaSticky green fruit for the Rajasthani pickle jar, on a tough small tree.Indian Jujube Shrubझड़बेरीZiziphus nummulariaThe thorny bush that holds the Thar together, browsed by everything and killed by nothing.LantanaपंचफूलीLantana camaraInvasive across Indian forests — grow the sterile garden cultivars only, never the wild kind.Sausage Treeबलम खीराKigelia africanaMaroon night flowers on long ropes, then metre-long fruit that alarms everybody.Indian Elmपापड़ीHoloptelea integrifoliaA tough dry-forest tree with papery winged seeds that blanket the ground in March.SandalwoodचंदनSantalum albumThe scented heartwood tree of the southern Deccan — a hemiparasite that needs a host.Indian Gooseberry Treeआंवला वृक्षPhyllanthus indofischeriThe wild amla of the southern hills, smaller-fruited and tougher than the orchard kind.
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