Regions: South India

The gongura of Andhra kitchens — sour leaves and later, calyces for sherbet.

Desi cotton — the indigenous species, hardier than the imported kinds.

The dye plant of history, nitrogen-fixing and undemanding.

A riverbank giant with pale bark — a campus or park tree, not a pot.

The fastest usable material on earth; one clump supplies poles for years.

The dry-country bamboo of central India, solid-stemmed and drought-hardy.

The biggest citrus, tolerant of humidity and common in eastern gardens.

Double-lobed aromatic leaves used across the north-east and the far south.

Tiered branches and huge leaves that turn red before falling — a coastal shade tree.

Sacred, enormous and the most valuable bird tree in any Indian city.