Regions: South India

The mehndi hedge of the dry west — scented flowers and dye leaves.

A thorny southern climber whose pods have washed hair for centuries.

Khus — a grass whose roots hold a slope together and scent a summer room.

East Indian lemongrass, distilled in the north-east for citral oil.

A few canes in a corner give juice, gur and a green screen by October.

Cut-and-carry fodder that regrows every forty days for years.

A Sundarbans mangrove with night flowers that bats pollinate.

The pioneer mangrove of Indian coasts, first to colonise new mud.

A stilt-rooted coastal pandan that holds sand against the sea.

The coastal shelterbelt tree of the east and south — fast and salt-proof.