Regions: Central India

The wild date of the plains, tapped for gur and fruiting freely.

Red February cups feeding every bird in the neighbourhood at once.

The gongura of Andhra kitchens — sour leaves and later, calyces for sherbet.

Grown for fibre and calyces in the west and centre; a striking tall annual.

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 dry-country bamboo of central India, solid-stemmed and drought-hardy.

Sacred, enormous and the most valuable bird tree in any Indian city.

The tree that becomes a grove; only for parks, campuses and village greens.