Regions: East India

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.

Bengal’s fibre crop, and its young leaves are a monsoon green.

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

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

A deccan hardwood whose bark and heartwood have long traditional use.

A riverbank giant with pale bark — a campus or park tree, not a pot.

Host tree of the lac insect, with brilliant red leaf flush in spring.

The fastest usable material on earth; one clump supplies poles for years.

The biggest citrus, tolerant of humidity and common in eastern gardens.