Regions: East India

Flowers nearly all year in a warm city, and sunbirds find it within a week.

A pot by an open window does more for a summer evening than any air freshener.

Drops its scented white flowers at dawn — the harsingar of temple courtyards.

Grows from a bare cutting pushed into dry soil; scents a whole terrace.

Golden champa — a tall tree whose flowers are sold by the handful at dusk.

Thrives on being ignored — the more you neglect it, the harder it flowers.

Ground cover, greens and tubers from a few cuttings pushed into soil.

The southern staple root — a stem cutting in June is a meal by March.

A winged-stemmed climber storing a heavy tuber under a monsoon trellis.

The fastest useful tree there is — 3 m in a year, edible leaves and pods.