Regions: South India

A creeping pepper of the eastern and southern forests, with catkin-like spikes.

The paan vine — grown in shaded enclosures across Bengal and the east.

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

Glossy-leaved and salt-tolerant, with seed oil once used in every lamp.

Central India’s most important livelihood tree — flowers, oil and shade.

The timber tree of the deccan, straight-boled and deep-rooted.

A deccan hardwood whose bark and heartwood have long traditional use.

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.