Plant library
Explore Plants
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Tree Tomatoतमरिल्लोSolanum betaceumEgg-shaped tart fruit on a soft-wooded small tree of the eastern hills.Chow Chowइस्कुसSechium eduleThe squash that covers a whole roof in one season across the eastern hills.
Khasi Mandarinखासी संतराCitrus reticulataThe loose-skinned orange of the Khasi and Jaintia hills, ripe in December.Job’s TearsगुरलुCoix lacryma-jobiHard glossy grain used as food, as beads and as a brewing grain in the hills.Proso MilletचीनाPanicum miliaceumA short-season millet of the northern hills, sown when the season has been lost.
Large Cardamomबड़ी इलायचीAmomum subulatumThe smoked black cardamom of Sikkim, grown under alder shade.RingalरिंगालDrepanostachyum falcatumThe slender hill bamboo of Uttarakhand, cut for baskets and matting.Sacred Lotus Stemकमल ककड़ीNelumbo nucifera (rhizome)The same lotus, grown in deep mud for the crisp rhizome of the Kashmiri kitchen.
Shoe Flower HedgeजपाHibiscus syriacusA hardier deciduous hibiscus for the hills, flowering through the monsoon.Wild ApricotचुलीPrunus armeniacaThe chuli of Ladakh and Kinnaur — blossom in April, fruit and kernel oil by July.Himalayan CherryपदमPrunus cerasoidesPink blossom in November, out of season by every other measure — the hill wild cherry.Bird CherryपइयांPrunus cornutaA Himalayan cherry with long fruit racemes that thrushes and bulbuls strip in weeks.Bay Leaf Treeतेजपत्ताCinnamomum tamalaThe tejpatta of the sub-Himalayan tract — three-veined leaves, straight off the tree.Himalayan OakबांजQuercus leucotrichophoraThe banj oak that holds the water in a Himalayan hillside; slow, dense and vital.AlderउतीसAlnus nepalensisA nitrogen-fixing pioneer of Himalayan landslides and north-eastern jhum fallows.Indian Horse ChestnutपांगरAesculus indicaBig palmate leaves and white flower candles in the western Himalayan valleys.Not sure where to start?
Answer three questions on the home page — your region, your space and your goal — and we will name two plants to sow this month.
How the library is organised
By regionEach entry notes where the plant grows well across India, from the Gangetic plain to coastal soils.
By seasonSowing windows for every month, so you never plant a winter green in May.
By spaceWindowsill, balcony, terrace or ground — filtered so you only see what will survive with you.
Checked by a botanistNames and facts are reviewed before publication; traditional uses are labelled as traditional.