Growing spaces: ground

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

The tejpatta of north Indian cooking — a hill tree, not the Mediterranean bay.

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.

Grown for fibre and calyces in the west and centre; a striking tall annual.

Bengal’s fibre crop, and its young leaves are a monsoon green.

The nut tree of Kashmir and the western hills, needing real winter cold.

Ladakh and Himachal fruit — blossom in March, fruit in June, dried for winter.

A cold-desert shrub of Ladakh, nitrogen-fixing and vitamin-dense.