Regions: Islands & the coast

A rosette epiphyte that grows on a tree fork or a shaded wall bracket.

A tall wet-evergreen tree of the southern Ghats, red-flushed in new leaf.

Big lobed leaves and starchy fruit; a coastal tree of Kerala and the islands.

The slender betel-nut palm of the wet coasts, grown in dense shaded gardens.

A climbing orchid that must be hand-pollinated flower by flower, at dawn.

The vine that made the Malabar coast; needs a tree to climb and constant humidity.

Enormous upright leaves for a wet shaded corner — architecture rather than a crop.

Flowers nearly all year in a warm city, and sunbirds find it within a week.

Yellow flower spires and copper seed pods; the summer partner to the gulmohar.

Glossy drooping new leaves in pink, then white flowers with a gold centre.