Regions: east

A creeping tidal palm of eastern deltas, roofing houses and sweetening sap.

A stilt-rooted coastal pandan that holds sand against the sea.

The coastal shelterbelt tree of the east and south — fast and salt-proof.

Tamil Nadu’s state tree — sap, fruit, leaf and timber from one palm.

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

Fishtail palm of the Ghats and the north-east, tapped for sap and sago.

The cane of eastern furniture — a spiny climbing palm of wet forest.

The wild banana of the north-east — seedy fruit, but flowers and stem are food.

The ghost chilli of Nagaland — a genuine regional speciality, and ferocious.

East Indian lemongrass, distilled in the north-east for citral oil.