Regions: north

Sticky green fruit for the Rajasthani pickle jar, on a tough small tree.

The thorny bush that holds the Thar together, browsed by everything and killed by nothing.

The desert teak — orange trumpets on bare wood in March, on a tree that needs no water.

A leafless broom-like desert shrub that fixes sand and feeds camels.

The narrow green column planted along every Indian driveway and boundary wall.

Cream powder-puff flowers, then papery pods that rattle all winter.

A scrambling roadside shrub with palmate leaves and small blue flower spikes.

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

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

Maroon night flowers on long ropes, then metre-long fruit that alarms everybody.