Regions: East India

A small southern shrub with white flowers, long used for skin preparations.

A dark-stemmed shrub of the wet coasts with traditional joint-pain uses.

A creeping mat for the wet edge of a terrace pond or a bowl garden.

Singhara — a floating annual grown in ponds and tanks across the north and east.

Bihar’s pond crop — prickly floating leaves and the popped seed of fasting food.

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

Sesame-like seeds used across the eastern Himalaya in chutney and oil.

The north-eastern shoot bamboo — fermented shoots are a regional staple.

A big orange-flowered climber of central forest, dramatic on a strong pergola.

Sweet basil — indigenous cultivation across India long before its pizza career.