Regions: East India

A slow, tough native tree for a hot courtyard, with fruit that makes the summer sherbet.

The street tree of the plains; even a potted seedling supplies leaves for a pest spray.

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

An unfussy evergreen shrub with white throated flowers that carpenter bees work.

A low monsoon weed of wet ground, gathered for hair oil for as long as anyone remembers.

Bolts in heat, thrives in the cool months. Sow every fortnight for a steady supply.

Plant a knob of market haldi in June; harvest your own in February.

The same trick as turmeric, in slightly more shade and slightly less time.

A curcuma that smells of raw mango — the pickle rhizome of the east.

A marginal water plant for a tub, aromatic-rooted and steady for years.