Regions: West India

Pale crisp fruit that smells of rose water, on a small spreading evergreen.

The kusha grass of ritual, holding sandy soil across the northern plains.

The anjan of dry pasture — a fodder grass that greens the Thar within days of rain.

Big heart leaves on a wet corner; the corm below and the leaf above both go to the pot.

A small creeping marsh herb for the shallow edge of a tub pond.

Spokes of leaf on a green stem — the marginal plant that makes a tub read as a pond.

The world’s most stubborn weed, and an aromatic tuber used for centuries.

Brown flower spikes over strap leaves; the reed that cleans a village pond.

The palmarosa of the Deccan, distilled for a rose-scented oil.

Yellow culms striped green; the ornamental clumping bamboo of Indian gardens.