Rattan
The cane of eastern furniture — a spiny climbing palm of wet forest.
Grihvatika Journal
Regions: east
Wild Banana
The wild banana of the north-east — seedy fruit, but flowers and stem are food.
Bhut Jolokia
The ghost chilli of Nagaland — a genuine regional speciality, and ferocious.
Lemon Grass Wild
East Indian lemongrass, distilled in the north-east for citral oil.
Kans Grass
The silver-plumed grass of autumn riverbanks — Durga Puja in plant form.
Sugarcane
A few canes in a corner give juice, gur and a green screen by October.
Napier Grass
Cut-and-carry fodder that regrows every forty days for years.
Mangrove Apple
A Sundarbans mangrove with night flowers that bats pollinate.
Grey Mangrove
The pioneer mangrove of Indian coasts, first to colonise new mud.
Sundari
The tree the Sundarbans is named for, now under pressure from rising salinity.