Regions: Himalaya & the hills

The tejpatta of the sub-Himalayan tract — three-veined leaves, straight off the tree.

The banj oak that holds the water in a Himalayan hillside; slow, dense and vital.

A nitrogen-fixing pioneer of Himalayan landslides and north-eastern jhum fallows.

Big palmate leaves and white flower candles in the western Himalayan valleys.

Red brushes of stamens on drooping branches; a hardy naturalised garden tree.

A tall hill-forest tree with pinnate leaves and scented pink-tinged timber.

The plane tree of Kashmir, planted for four centuries and unmistakable in autumn.

Long soft needles in fives; the pine of the mid-Himalayan slopes.

The resin pine of the lower Himalaya, and the needle litter that makes those fires.

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