Indian Pavetta

Common name: Indian Pavetta, Indian Pellet Shrub • Hindi: Kankara, Kathachampa • Manipuri: কুকুৰচূৰা Kukurchura • Marathi: Papat • Tamil: Kattukkaranai, Karanai • Malayalam: Mallikamutti • Telugu: Papidi • Kannada: Pavati • Bengali: Jui • Oriya: Paniphingi • Assamese: Sam-suku • Sanskrit: Kakachdi
Botanical name: Pavetta indica Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)
Synonyms: Ixora pavetta, Ixora indica
Indian Pavetta is an erect, nearly smooth or somewhat hairy shrub 2 to 4 meters or more in height. The leaves are elliptic-oblong to elliptic-lanceolate, 6-15 cm long, and pointed at both ends. The flowers are white, rather fragrant, and borne in considerable numbers in hairy terminal panicles which are 6-10 cm long. The sepals are very small, and toothed. The flower-tube is slender and about 1.5 cm long, with obtuse petals about half the length of the tube. The flowers attract butterflies and insects. The fruit is black when dry, somewhat rounded, and about 6 mm in diameter.
Medicinal uses: The bark, in decoction, or pulverized, is administered, especially to children, to correct visceral obstructions. The decocted leaves are used externally to alleviate the pains caused by haemorrhoids. The root, pulverized and mixed with the ginger and rice-water, is given in dropsy. A local fomentation with the leaves is useful in relieving the pain of piles.

Kadam

Common name: Kadam • Hindi: कदम्ब Kadamb • Tamil: வெள்ளை கதம்பு Vellaikkatampu • Malayalam: Katampu • Kannada: Kaduavalatige • Telugu: Rudrakskamba
Botanical name: Neolamarckia cadamba Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)
Synonyms: Anthocephalus cadamba, Anthocephalus indicus
In Hindu mythology, Kadam was the favourite tree of Krishna. Tree up to 45 m tall, without branches for more than 25 m. Diameter up to 100 (-160) cm but normally less; sometimes with buttresses. The crown is umbrellashaped and the branches are characteristically arranged in tiers. Leaves simple, 13-32 cm long. Flowers orange, small, in dense, globose heads. They appear like solid, hairy orange balls. The fruits are small capsules, packed closely together to form a fleshy, yellow or orange coloured infructescence containing approx. 8,000 seeds. The small capsules split into four parts releasing the seed at maturity. There are approximately 20,000 seeds per gram. It is believed to have medicinal value in curing astringent, ulcer, digestive, diarrhoea, expectorant, fever, vomiting. A postal stamp was issued by the Indian Postal Department to commemorate this tree.

Kaim

Common name: Kaim • Hindi: कैम Kaim, कदम्ब Kadamb • Bengali: Gulikadam • Marathi: Kalam
Botanical name: Mitragyna parvifolia Family: Rubiaceae (coffee family)
Kaim is a tree native to India. Can be thought of the Indian cousin of the thai born Kratom (M. speciosa), more popular in the West. The Mitragyna genus is found in tropical and sub-tropical regions of Asia and Africa. Asian species of Mitragyna are often found in rainforests, while the African species are often found in swamps. Mitragyna species are used medicinally as well as for their fine timber throughout the areas they grow. Kaim reaches heights of 50 feet with a branch spread of over 15 feet. The stem is erect and branching. Flowers are yellow and grow in ball-shaped clusters. The flowers are very fragrant, and remind one of the better known Kadam flowers. Leaves are a dark green in color, smooth, rounded in shape, and opposite in growth pattern.

Brilliant Gardenia

Common name: Brilliant Gardenia, cambi resin tree, white emetic nut • Hindi: देकामाली dekamali • Marathi: डिकामाली dikamali, डिकेमाली dikemali • Tamil: கம்பளிப்பிசின் kampali-p-picin, கும்பை kumpai, கும்பிலி kumpili, திக்காமல்லி tikkamalli • Malayalam: കബിമരം kabimaram • Telugu: కొండ మంగ konda manga • Kannada: ಬಿಕ್ಕಿ ಗಿಡ bikki gida, ಡಿಕ್ಕಾಮಾಲ್ಲಿ dikkaamaalli • Konkani: डिकमाली dikmali • Gujarati: દિકામારી dikamari • Sanskrit: नाडिहिङ्गु nadihingu
Botanical name: Gardenia resinifera Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)
Synonyms: Gardenia lucida
Brilliant Gardenia is a small, unarmed tree, up to 3 m tall. It exudes gum from the buds. Leaves have very short stalks. They are oblong or oval or obovate, obtuse or with a short blunt point, hairless, hard, shining, with simple parallel nerves. White fragrant flowers occur singly in leaf axils. They have a long tube, glabrous, striated, flaring into 5 obovate-oblong petals, a little shorter than the tube. Drupe is oblong, nut very hard, thick and bony. Flowering: March-April.

Gardenia

Common name: Gardenia, Cape jasmine • Hindi: Gandhraj गंधराज • Manipuri: কবোকলৈ Kaboklei • Urdu: गुलचांद Gulchand • Marathi: Gandroya • Bengali: গংধৰাজ Gandharaj • Kannada: Suvasane malle
Botanical name: Gardenia jasminoides Family: Rubiaceae (coffee family)
Synonyms: Gardenia augusta
Gardenias are beautiful, shrubby evergreen houseplants well loved for their creamy, fragrant blooms. The shrub that can grow 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m) high with almost equal spread. The leaves are glossy and leathery. Mature shrubs usually look round, and have a medium texture. This is not a "bloom all at once and it’s over" shrub! It blooms in mid-spring to early summer over a fairly long season. The flowers are white, turning to creamy yellow as they age, and have a waxy feel. They have a powerful, sweet fragrance, and can perfume an entire room. Gardenia is native to Japan, China and India.

Rose

Common name: Rose • Hindi: Gulab गुलाब • Manipuri: গুলাব Gulab • Tamil: ரோஜா Roja
Botanical name: Rosa Family: Rosaceae (rose family)
Roses are a group of herbaceous shrubs found in temperate regions throughout both hemispheres The birthplace of the cultivated Rose was probably Northern Persia, on the Caspian, or Faristan on the Gulf of Persia. Rose is considered by many as the most beautiful of all flowers. There are varieties which have an extremely pleasant scent. There are other varieties which do not have much smell. It is available in every colour except blue and true black. In the 19th century old scented roses were used to make jelly. The red rose is the symbol of England and is worn on St George's Day. It is also the symbol of love and is hugely popular on St Valentine's Day, when roses make up the largest proportion of the money spent on flowers. Rose has always featured strongly throughout history.

Manipur Wild-Tea Rose

Common name: Manipur Wild-tea Rose
Botanical name: Rosa gigantea macrocarpa Family: Rosaceae (rose family)
Manipur Wild-tea Rose, the beautiful species, was discovered by Sir George Watt in Manipur in 1882. As the botanical name implies, this is a huge species of rose, infact the largest. Shade tolerant and once blooming, 5" light yellow single, very fragrant flowers. An extensive climber, running over trees and forming at first straight unbranched stems, as thick as the arm, younger ones with a soft grey-brown bark and here and there short sharp hooked prickles; above completely ramified until it envelopes the trees on which it is found. It thus produces a truly superb effect, and, when seen from a distance, causes the trees to appear like magnolias, with large yellow flowers. The leaves when young have a rich brownish green tint; when older they become pale shining green; leaflets 5-7, ovate-oblong, acuminate, shortly and sharply serrate, the terminal one on a long petiole (1 in.), the others almost sessile; stipules very long, linear, adnate throughout their length (except their spreading terminal arms) and thus extending along the greater portion of the leaf-stalk. The fleshy hip or fruit is eaten by the Nagas, becomes as large as a small apple, and is smooth, glabrous, yellow (certainly never' red, as has been said of the species grown in Europe) and sweetly scented.

Loquat

Common name: Loquat, Japanese medlar • Hindi: लौकाट Lokat • Marathi: Lokat • Malayalam: Nespli
Botanical name: Eriobotrya japonica Family: Rosaceae (Rose family)
It is an evergreen small fruit tree, native to China. It has a rounded crown, short trunk and woolly new twigs. The tree can grow to 5-10 m tall, but is often smaller, about 3-4 m. Alternately arranged elliptic-oblong leaves, 10-25 cm long, are dark green, tough and leathery in texture, with a serrated margin, and densely velvety-hairy below with thick yellow-brown hairs. The young leaves are also densely velvety on the upper side, but this soon rubs off. Loquats are unusual among fruit trees in that the flowers appear in the autumn or early winter, and the fruits are ripe in late winter or early spring. The flowers are 2 cm across, white, with five petals, and produced in stiff panicles of three to ten flowers. The flowers have a sweet, heady aroma that can be smelt from a distance. Loquat fruits, growing in clusters, are oval, rounded or pear-shaped, 3-5 cm long, with a smooth or downy, yellow or orange, sometimes red-blushed skin. The succulent, tangy flesh is white, yellow or orange and sweet to subacid or acid, depending on the cultivar. Each fruit contains 3-5 large brown seeds. The skin, though thin, can be peeled off manually if the fruit is ripe. The fruits are the sweetest when soft and yellow.

Musk Larkspur

Common name: Musk Larkspur • Hindi: मखोटी Makhoti • Urdu: मुश्क दाना Mushk Dana, गुले मामून Gul-e-Mamoon • Nepali: विषादि घाँस Bishadi ghans
Botanical name: Delphinium brunonianum Family: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Synonyms: Delphinium jacquemontianum
Musk Larkspur is a perennial herb growing mostly on scree. It can grow to 20 cm tall, and has a strong musky smell. Leaves are rounded, lobed to two-thirds - lobes are toothed. Flowers are blue to purple, large, 3-5 cm including the spur. The flowers look inflated and rather papery, woolly haired, and sometimes prominently veined. Flowers are borne is small dense cluster. The upper petals forms a backward-projecting broad blunt spur. Inner petals are blackish. Musk Larkspur is a high altitude plant, found at 4300-5500 m. Flowering: July-September.

Erect Clematis

Common name: Erect Clematis, Upright virgin's bower, Ground virgin's bower, Ground clematis
Botanical name: Clematis recta Family: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Erect clematis is a very romantic plant that looks good in any garden. Clematis is a member of the buttercup family. The word is from the Greek and means "vine." This genus includes approximately 250 species which vary greatly in flower form, color, bloom season, foliage effect and plant height Growing like a shrub 3-6 ft tall and wide, erect clematis produces clouds of star like flowers in June and July. An explosion of white scented blossoms, this very fragrant clematis emits a strong vanilla scent. Small white flowers, with four petals, are not very showy, but still beautiful. Beautiful divided leaves too. The plant is somewhat floppy, so grow in a cage or a shrub.

Deccan Clematis

Common name: Deccan Clematis • Hindi: Murhar • Marathi: मोरवेल Morvel, रनजाई Ranjaee • Kannada: Merhari • Sanskrit: लघुपर्णिका Laghuparnika
Botanical name: Clematis heynei Family: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Synonyms: Clematis triloba
Deccan Clematis is an annual climber, 1-3 m long, found mainly in the Deccan region of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Stems are velvet hairy. Leaves are either simple or trifoliate, 3-5 cm, ovate. The leaf margin is either entire, or 3-7 lobed. Most commonly seen leaves are 3-lobed. Leaf stalks are slender, 2-8 cm, twinning. Fragrant white flowers, 2-4 cm across, occur in panicles in leaf axils. Clematis have no real petals. What appear to be petals are, in reality, sepals. Deccan Clematis flowers have 4-6 white sepals, 1-2 cm long, oblong. Many stamens arise from the center, about a cm long. Stamens are shorter than the sepals, unlike Clematis gauriana. Flowering: September-December.

Fragrant Virgin's Bower

Common name: Fragrant Virgin's Bower, fragrant clematis, sweet-scented virgin's bower
Botanical name: Clematis flammula Family: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)
Fragrant Virgin's Vower is a climber native to southern Europe and northern Africa, but it is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant in gardens. Oppositely arranged leaves are double-compound, falling in autumn. Leaflets are thick, sparsely hairy, entire (rarely 2-lobed). This woody vine bears fragrant white flowers, 2-3 cm across, and small green achenes. When the flowers are newly opened they have a strong sweet almond fragrance. The vine grows in a tangled mass that is heavily sprinkled with flowers throughout the warmer months. It is popular with gardeners as a decoration along fences and trellises, or as ground cover. If the vine has no other plants or structures to climb on, it will climb on itself, forming a large, densely tangled bush. The plant sends out many shoots and can reach over five meters in height. It is sweet-smelling but poisonous.

Perfumed Passion Flower

ommon name: Perfumed Passion Flower, Grape Leaved Passion Fruit
Botanical name: Passiflora vitifolia Family: Passifloraceae (Passion flower family)
Perfumed Passion Flower is a vine, native to Central and South America. The vine has cylindric stems covered in red-brown hairs when young. The leaves are three-lobed, up to 15 cm long and 18 cm broad. The common name and the species name vitifolia is derived from the shape of leaves resembling that of grape leaves. The flowers are stunning, bright red, up to 9 cm diameter. The flowers are fragrant too. This is only one of the many existing red passion-flowers. The fruit is green-yellow, 5 cm long and 3 cm broad, containing numerous seeds, with edible pulp.

Kewda

Common name: Kewda, Fragrant Screw Pine, Umbrella tree, Screw pine, Screw tree • Assamese: কেতেকী ketaki • Bengali: কেতকী ketaki • Gujarati: કેતક ketak • Hindi: गगण धूल gagan-dhul, जम्बाला jambala, जम्बूल jambul, केओड़ा keora, केतकी ketaki, केंवड़ा kevara, पांशुका panshuka, पांसुका pansuka, पुष्प चामर pushp-chamar, तीक्ष्ण गन्धा tikshna-gandha • Kannada: ಕೇದಗೆ kedage, ಕೇದಗಿ kedagi, ಕೇದಿಗೆ kedige, ಕೇತಕೆ ketake, ತಾಳೇ ಹೂ taale hu • Konkani: बोन्नोंग bonnong, केगदी kegdi, खेवडा khevada • Malayalam: കൈനാറി kainaari, കൈത kaitha • Manipuri: কেতেকী ketaki • Marathi: केगद kegad, केतकी ketaki, केवडा kevada • Oriya: Kia • Sanskrit: हनीलः hanilha, जम्बूल jambul, केतकी ketaki, पांशुका panshuka, पांसुका pansuka, सुगंधिनी sugandhini • Tamil: கேதகை ketakai, தாழை talai • Telugu: గేదగ gedaga, గొజ్జంగి gojjangi, కేతకి ketaki • Urdu: جمبالا jambala, جمبول jambul, کيتکی ketaki, کيوڙا kevara, پانشکا panshuka
Botanical name: Pandanus odorifer Family: Pandanaceae (Screw pine family)
Synonyms: Keura odorifera, Pandanus odoratissimus, Pandanus fascicularis
Fragrant Screw Pine is a small branched tree or shrub with fragrant flowers, found wild in southern India, Burma and the Andamans. it is a small, slender, branching tree with a flexuous trunk supported by brace roots. With rosettes of long-pointed, stiffly leathery, spiny, bluish-green, fragrant leaves, it bears in summer very fragrant flowers. It is used as perfume. aromatic oil (kevda oil) and fragrant distillation (otto) called "keorra-ka-arak". Used plant part - male flowers. They are almost exclusively used in the form of a watery distillate called kewra water. Flowers have a sweet, perfumed odor that has a pleasant quality similar to rose flowers, but kewra is more fruity. The distillate (kewra water, pandanus flower water) is quite diluted; it can be used by the teaspoon, often even by the tablespoon. Most delightful, richest, and powerful of perfumes even when dried.

Himalayan Fragrant Orchid

Common name: Himalayan Fragrant Orchid • Nepali: हात्ति जरा Hati jara
Botanical name: Gymnadenia orchidis Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Synonyms: Gymnadenia cylindrostachya, Gymnadenia himalayica, Habenaria orchidis, Orchis habenaroides
Himalayan Fragrant Orchid is a terrestrial orchid, growing to 1-2 ft tall. Tuberoids are palmately divided. The leafy stem are rather stout. Leaves 3-5, are large, erect, oblong, pointed, up to 12 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. Flowers are borne in very dense, cylindric spike, 10 cm long. Bracts are ovate-lanceshaped, pointed. Flowers are rose-violet, pleasantly scented. Dorsal sepal is ovate, 5 x 3 mm, forming a loose hood together with the petals. Lateral sepals are narrower, oblong, 6 x 2.5 mm, spreading outwards. Petals are broadly obliquely-ovate, 5 x 4 mm. Lip is angular-ovate in outline, usually broader than long, 5 x 5.5 mm, wedge- shaped towards the base, shallowly 3-lobed at the tip. Spur is slender, cylindric, pointed, 1.5-1.8 cm long, filled with nectar. Ovary is slightly twisted. The fragrance of the flowers is very similar to the European Fragrant Orchid Gymnadenia conopsea. Himalayan Fragrant Orchid is found in the Himalayas, from Pakistan to Bhutan, at altitudes of 2500-4800 m. Flowering: July-August.

Leafless Dendrobium

Common name: Leafless Dendrobium
Botanical name: Dendrobium aphyllum Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Synonyms: Limodorum aphyllum, Dendrobium macrostachyum
Leafless Dendrobium is an orchid which widely misidentified. The orchid which a lot of sources believe to be Dendrobium aphyllum, is actually Dendrobium cucullatum. Leafless Dendrobium is an orchid found often on orchard trees in open lowlands, in the Himalayas and NE India. It is a small to medium sized, hot growing epiphyte with thin pendulous stems carrying many, thin, lance- shaped, deciduous leaves. The plant blooms on the nodes of leafless stems after the leaves have dropped occuring in the late spring. Flowers are green, with purplish markings on the lip.

Himalayan Lilac

Common name: Himalayan Lilac
Botanical name: Syringa emodi Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Himalayan Lilac is a large deciduous shrub, growing up to 5 m tall. Leaves are elliptic-oblong, 6-10 cm long, with entire margins, carried on 2.5 cm long stalks. Flowers are borne in dense branched clusters of white fragrant flowers, at the end of branches. Flowers are tubular, 8 mm long. Petals are oblong, hooded at the tip, spreading outwards. Seed capsule is cylindrical, up to 1.5 cm long. Himalayan Lilac is found in the Himalayas, from Afghanistal to C. Nepal, at altitudes of 2100-3600 cm. Flowering: June-July.

Har Singar

Common name: Har singar, Coral Jasmine, Tree of Sorrow, Queen of the night • Hindi: हार सिंगार Har singar, शैफ़ाली Shefali, पारिजात Paarijat • Manipuri: Singarei • Tamil: பவிழமல்லி Pavizhamalli • Malayalam: Paarijatam • Sanskrit: पारिजात Paarijat
Botanical name: Nyctanthes arbortristis Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Har singar should not be confused with the West Indian shrub Cestrum nocturnum, also called queen of the night. Nyctanthes arbortristis literally means, night-blooming sad tree. Grows as large shrub or small tree depending on how it is trained. The large attractive leaves are rough and hairy. The sweet scented flowers are small, attractive with white petals and an orange-red tube in center and bloom profusely, opening at night and drop off in the morning, thus making a carpet of flowers in the morning. Used for worship. Needs warmth during winter months. Use well drained soil and fertilize once a month.

Bela

Common name: Arabian Jasmine 'Maid of Orleans' • Hindi: Bela बेला, Motiya मोतिया, Mogra मोगरा • Telugu: Malli • Tamil: கொடி மல்லி Kodi mulli • Manipuri: Jati জাতী পুশ্প pushpa
Botanical name: Jasminum sambac var. 'Maid of Orleans' Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Arabian Jasmine is an evergreen shrub, that often reaches 5 ft in height in pots. The flowers are used in making perfumes and as a flavoring in tea. Arabian jasmine is native to India. This woody shrub features green oval shaped leaves. The most attractive aspect of this plant is its small, white, star-shaped flowers, which are fragrant and have a wonderfully sweet scent. This everblooming Jasmine has bushy growth and does particularly well on windowsills. It is well known in Asia for its use in teas and religious observances. Also known as the "Arabian Tea Jasmine," it is the National Flower of the Philippines, where it is known as ‘Sampaguita.

Butt Mogra

Common name: Arabian Jasmine 'Grand Duke Of Tuscany', Butt mogra बत मोगरा (Hindi), அடுக்கு மல்லி Adukku Malli (Tamil)
Botanical name: Jasminum sambac var. 'Grand Duke Of Tuscany' Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Butt Mogra, a slow growing Jasmine but grandest of them all. This tall growing shrub has Gardenia type flowers as large as carnations. Due to certain phenomena the older plants seem to be even more fascinating in providing flowers of different shapes and sizes on the same plant at the same time. This plant loves partial shade and very well drained and moist soil. The flowers do not seem to drop off and in most cases will dry right on the plant. this is the plant used to flavor the jasmine tea and making perfumes. Perfect houseplant, takes both sun or shade, Butt mogra is a beautiful fragrant everbloomer for your home and garden.

Madan Mogra

Common name: Arabian Jasmine 'Belle of India' • Hindi: Madan mogra मदन मोगरा • Tamil: குஂதூ மல்லீ Gundu Malli
Botanical name: Jasminum sambac var. 'Belle of India' Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Madan Mogra Another beautiful and unusual specie in the J. Sambac family. With it's long slender oval shape buds one cannot but admire the flowers when open. Flowers are double and very fragrant without any doubt that of Jasmine. Unless give warmth, full sun, and well drained soil, you may not be successful in growing this variety. Never the less it does belong with all other Jasmines one grows on a window sill.

Pink Jasmine

Common name: Pink jasmine, Winter jasmine, Chinese jasmine • Hindi: गुलाबी चमेली Gulabi chameli • Tamil: ஜாதி மல்லி Jaadi-malli
Botanical name: Jasminum polyanthum Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Fast growing twining vine with glossy, compound leaves and very fragrant white flowers. Though called "Pink" it is only the buds that are pale pink. When opened the star-shaped flowers are pure white. Flowering is usually prolific, and growth is rampant. Vines reach a height of about 20 ft. Native to southeastern China, pink jasmine is a popular landscape and greenhouse plant. In warmer climates, pink jasmine can be used freely to cover walls and high fences, to grow on arbors, or train up any surface where a verdant cover is desirable. This is especially nice grown around windows, where it can provide a visual frame and where its heavenly scent can waft inside.

Angelwing Jasmine

Common name: Angelwing Jasmine, Royal jasmine, Shining jasmine, Star jasmine, Windmill jasmine • Hindi: राज चमेली Raj Chameli
Botanical name: Jasminum nitidum Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Angelwing jasmine is an evergreen or semi-evergreen vine or shrub with sweetly fragrant, large, snow-white, pinwheel shaped flowers which are about 2 in across. The buds are purplish and the reddish purple color is retained on the sepals of the flowers. The flowers bloom at night from late spring and throughout the summer. Glossy, leathery leaves are elliptic to lance-shaped, about 2 in long and oppositely arranged. This vine grows fast, and becomes woody with age. It can grow to 20 ft long but in most gardens it is trimmed to a shrub 2-4 ft tall. angelwing jasmine is native to Papua New Guinea's Admiralty Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.

Malabar Jasmine

Common name: Malabar Jasmine, Wild jasmine • Marathi: कुसर kusar, रान मोगरा ran mogra • Tamil: கொடிவகை kotivakai • Kannada: Kadu mallige • Sanskrit: मुद्गर mudgara
Botanical name: Jasminum malabaricum Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Malabar Jasmine is a beautiful jasmine native to south India. It is a large climber, growing up to 3-5 m. Woody stems are 4 cm thick. Slender branches are spreading and trailing. Oppositely arranged membranous leaves are 8-12 cm long, and broadly ovate, with a sharp tip. The base of the leaf is either rounded or heart-shaped, and the stalk is 1-3 cm long. Fragrant white flowers appear in branched cymes at the end of branches, upto 50 in a single cyme. Petals are 6-10, 2 cm long, lance-like and spreading. The narrow tube below the petals is 2 cm long. It is found planted near many temples, and is used in worship. This one is very rare in northern parts of India.

Yellow Jasmine

Common name: Yellow Jasmine, Italian Jasmine • Hindi: पीली चमेली Peeli chameli • Nepali: मसिनो जाई Masino Jaai
Botanical name: Jasminum humile Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Synonyms: Jasminum wallichianum, Jasminum revolutum, Jasminum pubigerum
Yellow Jasmine is a small erect much-branched shrub, growing to 1 m or more tall, commonly found in the Himalayan region. It has green, angular branches. Leaves are pinnate with 3-7 ovate to lancelike leathery leaflets. The last leaflet is somewhat larger. Inflorescences are lax clusters of yellow tubular flowers at the end of branches. Flowers have a slender tube, 1-2 cm long, with 5 rounded spreading petals, about 6 mm. Sepal tube is cup shaped, only 3 mm in size, with tiny triangular sepals. Fruit is black berry, 8 mm in size, with crimson juice. Flowering: April-June.
Medicinal uses: The flowers are astringent and a tonic for the heart and bowels. A paste made frm the flowers is considered effective in the treatment of intestinal problems. The juice of the root is used in the treatment of ringworm. The milky juice of the plant is used for destroying the unhealthy lining walls of chronic sinuses and fistulas.

River Jasmine

Common name: River Jasmine, Brazilian Jasmine • Tamil: பெருமல்லி Perumalli
Botanical name: Jasminum fluminense Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
River Jasmine is a species of Jasmine to which the name Jasminum azoricum was erroneously applied. River Jasmine is an evergreen, climbing, woody vine, with young stems densely hairy and mature stems glabrous. Leaves opposite, trifoliolate, leaf and leaflets stalked; terminal leaflet larger, to 7 cm (4 in) long, with a stalk to 5 cm (2 in) long; leaflets broadly ovate, pubescent above and below, with pointed tips. Flowers white, quite fragrant, opening at night, in broad, branched clusters at leaf axils; petals fused into a narrow, slightly curved tube to 2.5 cm (1 in) long, with 5-7 terminal lobes shorter than the tube, spreading in star-shaped fashion. Fruit a small, fleshy, roundish, black, 2-lobed berry.

Rose Bud Jasmine

Common name: Rose Bud Jasmine, Everblooming Jasmine, Gold Coast Jasmine
Botanical name: Jasminum dichotomum Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Rose Bud Jasmine is an evergreen climber which grows as a rambling shrub or a woody vine, up to 26 ft tall, with climbing stems longer. Stems are hairless. Oppositely arranged leaves appear simple (technically with one leaflet each), oval to roundish oblong, glossy, leathery, 5-7 cm long, with short-pointed tips. Flowers are white, but the buds are pink, and somewhat resemble rose-buds, hence the common name. Flowers are quite fragrant, opening at night, appearing in clusters in leaf axils. Petals are fused into a narrow tube up to 2.5 cm long, with 5-9 petals, about 1.3 cm long, spreading star-like. Fruit is a small, fleshy, roundish, black, 2-lobed berry. Rose Bud Jasmine is native to Africa, cultivated in tropical regions as a garden plant. Observed to escape cultivation and become wild in parts of India. Flowering: January-April.

Azores Jasmine

Common name: Azores Jasmine • Tamil: பெருமல்லி Perumalli
Botanical name: Jasminum azoricum Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Synonyms: Jasminum trifoliatum
Azores Jasmine is vine-like shrub, native to Canary Islands. Earlier it was mistakenly assumed to be native of India. Oppositely arranged leaves are divided into three leaflets. Leaflets are ovate, sharp-tipped, quite often folded along midrib. Leaflets are hairless and shining. The central one is up to 6 cm long and 3 cm broad, lateral ones usually smaller, either stalkless or with a stalk. Flowers fragrant, in many-flowered terminal cymes or panicles; pedicels up to 1 cm long. Bracts linear, up to 3 mm long. Sepals 4-5, hairless, triangular, to 1 mm long. Flowers white, tube 1.5-2 cm long, petals 1-1.5 cm long, 5 mm broad, oblong-lancelike, acute. The style protrudes out of the flower.

Juhi

Common name: Juhi • Hindi: जूही • Tamil: உச்சி மல்லிகை Uccimalligai • Telugu: Adavimalle • Oriya: Banamallika • Malayalam: Sucimulla • Kannada: Sanna mallige • Marathi: Jai • Sanskrit: यूथिका Yuthika
Botanical name: Jasminum auriculatum Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Synonyms: Jasminum molle
Juhi is a beautiful flower with extremely heavy gardenia type scent. This species is not very common though it deserves a special attention. For those who are familiar with this plant, Juhi is a most wonderful Jasmine. A stunning, small scandent bushy plant with simple ovate dark green small leaves and powdery satin white flowers. Posessing a strong gardenia like scent, flowers appear in bunches from summer to fall. Very easy to grow, takes both sun and shade, dry and moist conditions. Highly recommended jasmine for scented garden or as indoor plant. A must for everyone who appreciates fragrant flowers. The flower is held sacred to all forms of Goddess Devi and is used as sacred offerings during Hindu religious ceremonies.

Wild Jasmine

Common name: Wild Jasmine • Hindi: बनमल्लिका Banmallika • Tamil: Kattumalligai • Malayalam: Kattumallika • Telugu: Adavimalli • Kannada: Kananamallika, Adavimallige • Sanskrit: वनमल्लिका Vanamallika, Asphota
Botanical name: Jasminum angustifolium Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)
Synonyms: Nyctanthes angustifolia
Wild Jasmine is a small climbing shrub. Stem is smooth but branchlets minutely pubescent. Oppositely arranged, simple leaves are very variable even on the same plant. Leaves are 1-3 cm long, 7-20 mm broad, elliptic-ovate. The smooth leaves are acute, base obtuse or almost rounded. One inch across white, star-like flowers are exquisitely fragrant. The flowers are either solitary or more usually in threes. Petals 7 or 8, but can be more in number. Petals are linear, obtuse, very acute. Carpels two usually well developed. Flowering: June–August.

Four O'clock

Common name: Four O'clock, Beauty-of-the-night, Marvel of Peru • Hindi: गुल अब्बास Gul abbas, Gulbakshi • Manipuri: মুকাক লৈ Mukak lei • Marathi: गुलबस Gulabas or गुलबास Gulabaas, सायंकाळें saayankaale • Tamil: Pattarashu, அந்தி மந்தாரை Andhi Mandarai • Malayalam: Anthimalari, Anti-mantaram, naalu mani poovu • Telugu: Chandramalli • Kannada: Gulamaji, Naalku ghante hoo • Bengali: সংধ্যা মালতী Sandhya malati • Oriya: Rangini • Konkani: आकाशमुरी Akashmuri, Meremdi • Sanskrit: Krishnakeli
Botanical name: Mirabilis jalapa Family: Nyctaginaceae (Bougainvillea family)
Four o'clock flowers are trumpet shaped, about an inch across at the end and about two inches long. They open in the evening and wilt the next morning. Four o'clocks are leafy, shrublike, multi-branched perennials which bloom throughout summer. The plants are erect and spreading, 2-3 ft tall and just as wide. They have numerous branches and opposite, pointed leaves 2-4 in long. The fragrant flowers are borne singly or in clusters, and can be red, magenta, pink, yellow or white, sometimes with more than one color on the same plant. Like Petunia, bicolored flowers can also be grown. The plants continue to produce new flowers from late spring untill fall. Four o'clocks have large, black carrot shaped tubers that can be a foot or more long. In warm regions, the roots can weigh up to 18 kg or more.

Surinam Cherry

Common name: Surinam Cherry, Barbados cherry, Brazilian cherry, Cayenne cherry, Florida cherry, French cherry
Botanical name: Eugenia uniflora Family: Myrtaceae (Myrtle family)
Native to tropical America, Surinam Cherry is a large shrub or small tree with a conical form, growing slowly to 8 m in height. The leaves are glossy green, up to 4 cm long, and new foliage has a beautiful copper color. Long-stalked flowers, borne singly or as many as 4 together in leaf axils, have 4 delicate, recurved, white petals and a tuft of 50-60 prominent white stamens with pale-yellow anthers. The fragrant white flowers mature into fruits which are 7- to 8-ribbed, up to 2 cm in diameter, and ripen from yellow to red. The flavor ranges from sweet to sour, depending on the cultivar and level of ripeness. Surinam Cherry is often used in gardens as a hedge or screen. The fruit is high in Vitamin C, and its predominant food use in most of the places it occurs is as a flavoring and base for jams and jellies.

Mimosa Bush

Common name: Mimosa bush, Needle bush, Cassie flower, Fragrant acacia, Ironwood, Sweet acacia, Sweet wattle • Hindi: गुह बबूल Guh baboool, Gukikar, Gandh babool • Manipuri: Chigong lei • Marathi: गुकीकर Gukikar • Telugu: Nagatumma • Kannada: Kasturigibbali • Hindi: ગંધેલો બબૂલ Gandhelo babul• Oriya: Kapur • Tamil: Kadivel, கஸ்தூரிவேல் Kasthurivel, பீக்கருவேல் Pikkaruvel • Assamese: তৰুৱা কদম Tarua kadam • Bengali: Guyababula
Botanical name: Acacia farnesiana Family: Mimosaceae (Touch-me-not family)
Synonyms: Acacia acicularis, Acacia minuta, Mimosa farnesiana
Mimosa Bush is a shrub which usually grows to a height of around 1 to 1.5 metres, but it can grow up to 8 m tall. Almost every part of the plant contains sharp thorns. The slightly rough stems are a rich chocolate brown or grey, possessing long, sharp, multiple thorns. The small, yellow, puff-like flowers are very fragrant and appear in clusters in late winter then sporadically after each new flush of growth, providing nearly year-round bloom. The persistent fruits have a glossy coat and contain seeds which are cherished by birds and other wildlife. Widely cultivated for its decorative qualities and the essential oil obtained from its flowers for use in the perfume industries.

Madhavi Lata

Common name: Hiptage, Helicopter Flower • Hindi: Madhavi lata माधवी लता • Manipuri: মাধবী Madhabi • Kannada: Madhvi • Bengali: মাধবীলতা Madhabilata • Tamil: வசந்தகால மல்லிகை Vasantakaala malligai
Botanical name: Hiptage benghalensis Family: Malpighiaceae (Barbados cherry family)
Madhavi lata, native from India to the Philippines, is a vine like plant that is often cultivated in the tropics for its attractive and fragrant flowers. A woody climbing shrub with clusters of pink to white and yellow fragrant flowers and 3-winged, helicopter-like fruits. Flowers have very interesting shape and look like a decorative accessory, with fluffy-toothed edges. The fragrance is very strong and pleasant, resembles fruity perfume. Leaves are narrow and drooping. This plant can be trimmed as a bush, and can be crown in container, too. Used medicinally in India. Make sure to provide lots of light for profuse blooming. The genus name, Hiptage, is derived from the Greek hiptamai, which means "to fly" and refers its unique three-winged fruit known as "samara". The fruit is carried by wind because of its papery wings.
Medicinal uses: The bark, leaves and flowers are aromatic, bitter, acrid, astringent, refrigerant, vulnerary, expectorant, cardiotonic, anti-inflammatory and insecticidal. They are useful in burning sensation, wounds, ulcers, cough, asthma.

Magnolia

Common name: Magnolia, Southern magnolia • Hindi: हिम चम्पा Him champa • Manipuri: ঊথম্বাল Oothambal
Botanical name: Magnolia grandiflora Family: Magnoliaceae (Magnolia family)
Magnolia, a native of the southeastern US, is one of the most magnificent of the fragrant trees. It's trunk is typically straight and erect with spreading branches that form a dense, broadly pyramidal crown. It has large, thick, leathery dark green leaves which are up to 10 inches long. In the spring, they have a golden to rust color on their undersides. The large evergreen trees may grow to 90 ft tall, and the fragrant white blossoms that have smooth, almost velvet-looking petals, are 8-12 inches across. The snow white flowers are huge, and cup-shaped when young. The fruits are reddish-brown conelike structures, 2-4 in long, with bright red kidney shaped seeds that hang from little threads when fully mature in autumn. In the US, the magnolia is used as a street tree, a free standing specimen, a framing tree, or shade tree. In most parts of India, magnolias are grown only in select well-maintained gardens. In Manipur, magnolias are commonly grown - the Manipuri name ootahmbal means "tree lotus" - flowers are used as offering in puja.

Dwarf Magnolia

Common name: Dwarf Magnolia, Cempaka Telur, Cempaka Gondok, Coconut Magnolia
Botanical name: Magnolia coco Family: Magnoliaceae (Magnolia family)
Native to China, magnolia coco is a wonderful plant which captures the beauty of magnolias (normally big trees) in a flower pot. The flowers are small and very fragrant. They usually last only a day and open in the evening, the tepals falling by morning. This species is a good houseplant, the most suitable magnolia for indoors, thanks to its small size and slow growth rate. Its long flowering period provides indoor fragrance and color about nine months of a year. Most of magnolias lack nectaries, but the Magnolia coco is a nice exception. It secrets a nectar-like substance at the base of the tepals and between the stigmas. Indoors it can be grown as a small house plant in a pot where it gets only 2-3 ft tall and blooms in young age. Fragrance is outstanding especially in early morning, and reminds one of champaka. This probably inspired its other names, Michelia coco and Michelia pumila. This is a true magnolia - the blooms are at the ends of the branches, rather than from the leaf axils as they are in the Michelia group.

Golden Champa

Common name: Joy Perfume Tree, Champa चम्पा (Hindi), Leihao (Manipuri), Sambagan (Tamil), Sampige (Kannada), Sachochampo (Gujarati), Tita-sopa (Assamese), Pivaluchampa (Marathi), Champa (Bengali), Champakah (Sanskrit), Pudchampo (Konkani)
Botanical name: Magnolia champaca Family: Magnoliaceae (magnolia family)
Synonyms: Michelia champaca
This variety of Champa produces golden yellow flowers. Champa is native to Indonesia, India and other neighbouring areas. It occurs naturally in the eastern Himalayan region. It is a large evergreen tree with a long straight bole of 18-21 m with a close tapering crown composed of ascending branches. The most interesting part of the tree are its flowers which have an extremely heady fragrance. This fragrance has made Champa flowers very popular and they have been part of the culture in India from time immemorial. They are used in religeous offering in various parts of India. On a warm humid night, the scents can easily be enjoyed several hundred feet away. Champa flowers are used to make the world's most expensive perfume 'Joy' in America.

Champa

Common name: Champa, Joy Perfume Tree • Hindi: चम्पा Champa • Manipuri: লৈহাও Leihao • Marathi: Son Champa • Tamil: Sambagan • Telugu: Champangi • Kannada: Sampige • Bengali: চম্পা Champa • Oriya: Chompa • Konkani: Pudchampo • Urdu: Champa چمپا • Assamese: Tita-sopa • Sanskrit: Champaka
Botanical name: Magnolia champaca Family: Magnoliaceae (Magnolia family)
Synonyms: Michelia champaca
Champa is native to Indonesia, India and other neighbouring areas. It occurs naturally in the eastern Himalayan region. It is a large evergreen tree with a long straight bole of 18-21 m with a close tapering crown composed of ascending branches. The most interesting part of the tree are its flowers which are not very showy with few narrow yellowish white petals, but have an extremely heady fragrance. This fragrance has made Champa flowers very popular and they have been part of the culture in India from time immemorial. They are used in religeous offering in various parts of India. On a warm humid night, the scents can easily be enjoyed several hundred feet away. Champa flowers are used to make the world's most expensive perfume 'Joy' in America.

Hyacinth

Common name: Hyacinth, Dutch hyacinth, Roman hyacinth
Botanical name: Hyacinthus orientalis Family: Liliaceae (lily family)
The hyacinth is a bulbous perennial herb in the lily family, grown for its showy and fragrant springtime flower display. Four to six shiny narrow straplike leaves and a central flower stalk emerge from the squat subterranean bulb in early to mid spring. The 12 in (30.5 cm) stalk is crowded with colorful flowers that, depending on cultivar, may be red, orange, pink, yellow, white, lavender or blue. The individual flowers are funnel shaped, single or double, and the six lobes may be strongly reflexed to merely spreading. Many have intensely sweet fragrances. There are more than 60 cultivars available. Those in the Multiflora Group have several flowering stalks. Roman hyacinth (H. orientalis var. albulus) is smaller than the typical form, and has blue or white flowers that aren't as crowded on the stalk. The hyacinth hails originally from the Mediterranean region, from North Africa, through Greece, to Asia Minor and Syria. According to Homer, the hyacinth first grew from where the blood of Hyakinthos, the youthful warrior accidentally killed by Apollo, was shed upon the ground.

Cannon Ball Tree

Common name: Cannon Ball Tree • Hindi: Nagalinga नागलिंग, Tope gola तोप गोला • Kannada: Lingada mara, Nagalingam • Marathi: Shivalingam • Bengali: Kaman gola • Tamil: நாகலிங்கம் Naagalingam
Botanical name: Couroupita guianensis Family: Lecythidaceae (Barringtonia family)
This large deciduous tropical tree, 75' tall and indigenous to the Amazon rainforest, is listed as a rare tree and flower in India. The leaves, up to 6" long, are simple with serrate margin; it flowers in racemes which is cauliflorus; the yellow, reddish and pink flowers are stunning fragrant. These are 3" to 5" waxy aromatic smelling, pink and dark-red flowers growing directly on the bark of the trunk. The tree bears, directly on the trunk and main branches, large globose woody fruits; they look like big rusty cannonballs hanging in clusters, like balls on a string. Cannon ball trees usually carry 'CAUTION' signs posted on the trunks to advise people not to stand close to and directly under the fruits as one can get hurt as they drop off by themselves. The fruit contains small seeds in a white, unpleasant smelling white jelly, which are exposed when the upper half of the fruit goes off like a cover. The long dangling fruity branches give the tree an unkempt appearance. The hard shells are used to make containers and utensils. Cannon ball flowers are considered of special significance in Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka. In Tamil Nadu, it is called Nagalingam flower. The sivalingam shape is visible at the center of the flower and snake shaped pollen is the specialty of this flower and it has very good fragrance. This rare flower can be used for Shiva Pooja

Sausage Vine

Common name: Sausage Vine, Holboellia • Hindi: गोमफल Gomphal, Gukhnial • Khasi: Mirang ksa, Soh lyngkait • Nepali: Bagul, Guphala
Botanical name: Holboellia latifolia Family: Lardizabalaceae (Coguilera family)
Synonyms: Stauntonia latifolia
Sausage Vine is a vigorous, woody, evergreen climber, native to the Himalayas. Branches are prominently channelled. Leaves are palmately compound, with 3-9 elliptic or oblong-ovate leaflets, 4-10 cm long. In spring, it bears small clusters of very heavily scented, white or purplish, bell-shaped flowers. Flowers are very sweetly scented. They are borne in racemes in leaf axils. Fruit is reddish purple at maturity, irregularly sausage-shaped, 5-7 cm long, up to 4 cm wide. Ripe fruits are eaten fresh. Sausage Vine is found in forests, shrubberies and shady ravined of the Himalayas, from Pakistan to SW China, at altitudes of 1500-4000 m. Flowering: April-May.

Freesia

Common name: Freesia
Botanical name: Freesia spp. Family: Iridaceae (Iris family)
Native to Africa, Freesia is a genus of 14-16 species of flowering plants in the Iris family. Freesias are strongly scented so they make a nice addition to any area. They have five to 10 single or double flowers. Stems are usually 10 to 18 inches long with little or no foliage. The bell-shaped freesia blooms up to seven days and comes in white, golden yellow, orange, red, pink, mauve, lavender, purple and bicolors. They are herbaceous plants which grow from a corm 1-2.5 cm diameter, which sends up a tuft of narrow leaves 10-30 cm long, and a sparsely branched stem 10-40 cm tall bearing a few leaves and a loose one-sided spike of fragrant narrowly funnel-shaped flowers.

Grape Hyacinth

Common name: Grape Hyacinth
Botanical name: Muscari armeniacum Family: Hyacinthaceae (Hyacinth family)
Grape Hyacinths are so named because their clusters of small, bell-shaped, cobalt-blue flowers look like clusters of upside-down grapes. There is a famous planting of them at the Keukenhof Gardens in Holland which is known as the Blue River. This is a dense planting of Muscari armeniacum that winds through the Gardens, past trees, shrubs, and other spring flowers. Year after year, this is one of the most photographed scenes in this park.An additional benefit is that all Muscari have a lovely fragrance. The more you plant, the more fragrance you get. Conical racemes of slightly fragrant, tightly packed, bell-shaped, cobalt blue flowers having a thin white line around the rim of each bell are borne on 6-9" scapes. Each bulb produces 1-3 flower scapes. Clumps of narrow, fleshy, somewhat floppy, basal leaves up to 12" long appear in autumn and live through the cold of winter. Flower scapes emerge in early spring.

Chhal Mogra

Common name: Chhal Mogra, Chaulmogra • Hindi: छालमोगरा Chhalmogra • Kannada: surantaeil • Assamese: Bonsha, Bandarpele, Chaulmugra • Khasi: Dieng-sohliang, Dieng sohphailing • Mizo: Sai-thei • Sanskrit: Alasakapaha, Kushthapa, Sagarodbhuta, Tuvaraka • Nepali: गन्दारे Gandare, Koitur
Botanical name: Gynocardia odorata Family: Flacourtiaceae (Coffee Plum family)
Synonyms: Chaulmoogra odorata, Chilmoria dodecandra
Chhal Mogra is a beautiful, crooked, evergreen tree, native to the moist forests of NE India. It grows up to 30 m tall, and has an untidy branching habit. Alternately arranged leaves are oblong- elliptic, rarely ovate-oblong or obovate-oblong, 13-20 cm long, 5-10 cm wide, leathery. Pale yellow flowers are sweet scented, and arise directly from the bark, hence the name chhaal mogra (chhaal means bark and mogra is a generic name for jasmine). Flowers have five rounded petals, and a mass of long stamens at the center. The fruits are round, ash-colored, and when mature, and also arise straight from the corky stems. A crude oil is extracted from the fruit which is used in cooking and lighting purposes. The fruit itself is poisonous.

Chinese Wisteria

Common name: Chinese wisteria
Botanical name: Wisteria sinensis Family: Fabaceae (pea family)
Chinese Wisteria is a really beautiful twining deciduous vine. In springtime it leafs out and flowers with large, drooping, grapelike clusters of purple-blue, fragrant flowers. This tough woody vine often climbs high into tree canopy when grown in mild winter climates. It is stunning to see a wisteria draped from the limbs of a tall pine when in full bloom, a scene made more memorable by the blossoms' appealing fragrance. Leaves are compound and consist of 7 to 13 leaflets to about 3 in in length. The flowers are white, violet, or blue, produced on 6-10 inches long racemes in spring, usually reaching their peak in April-May. The flowers are followed by attractive velvety pods 6 in in length. In winter, Chinese Wisteria is a tangled mass of naked woody stems that may or may not be picturesque depending on culture and circumstance. Chinese wisteria is usually very long lived and trunks can become quite large and attractively gnarly with age. The genus was named after Dr. Caspar Wistar (1761-1818), a professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania. Chinese or sweet wisteria is native to China. Flowering: April-May.

Himalayan Whorlflower

ommon name: Whorlflower, Himalayan Whorlflower
Botanical name: Morina longifolia Family: Dipsacaceae (Teasel family)
Himalayan Whorlflower is a beautiful evergreen perennial herb from the Himalayas. It adds charm to the Valley of Flowers, where it grows in abundance. The plant has flowering stems up to 1 m tall. Has linear, glossy, dark green leaves with sharp spines along the leaf margins. Bears tiered whorls of white flowers that turn pale pink and then rosy red after fertilisation. Himalayan Whorlflower is found in the Himalayas, from Photographed in Valley of Flowers, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

Kashmir to Bhutan, at altitudes of 3000-4000 m. Flowering: June-September

Sweet Alyssum

Common name: Sweet Alyssum, Lobularia
Botanical name: Lobularia maritima Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard family)
This low growing woody stemmed perennial is usually grown as an annual by most gardeners. Forming dense mats less than 30 cm in height sweet alyssum covers itself densely with delicate white, pink or purple blossoms to create splashes of color in the landscape. Flowers are arranged in terminal clusters and come in single and double with a fragrance that resembles warm honey. In temperate climates it will often flower for most of the year but can look a bit ragged during the hottest months. Alyssum has tiny green leaves which are mostly hidden beneath the blooms. A hardy, fast growing plant for borders, mass displays and rockeries that flowers within 8 weeks of sowing seed.

Rangoon Creeper

Common name: Rangoon Creeper, Burma creeper • Hindi: मधु मालती Madhu Malati • Manipuri: পারিজাত Parijat • Marathi: Vilayati chambeli • Tamil: Irangun malli • Bengali: মধুমংজরী Madhumanjari • Urdu: Ishq pechaan عسق پیچاں
Botanical name: Quisqualis indica Family: Combretaceae (Rangoon creeper family)
Rangoon creeper is the most common vine in Delhi. It is not uncommon to see the creeper rooted only in a small hole in cemented groud, but the vine thriving and climbing high. Clusters of fragrant white pendulous trumpets open white then change to pink, red and finally a deep maroon. A vigorous twining climber blooming profusely throughout summer that can reach as much as 70 feet in tropical climates. This plant needs support for growing and is very useful in covering fences, supports, and walls. The fragrant white flowers grow in pendent racemes, quickly changing to pink then red, making a spectacular show. The growth rate is generally fast, and the plant does not make heavy fertilizer demands. Rangoon creeper does like medium to bright light. Under good conditions it will be necessary to prune the plant to keep it in bounds. Rangoon creeper is found in thickets or secondary forests of the Philippines, India and Malaysia. It has since been cultivated widely in the gardens as an easy to grow plant.

Nag Kesar

Common name: Cobra saffron, Ceylon ironwood, Indian rose chestnut • Hindi: नाग चम्पा Nag champa, नागकेसर Nagkesar • Urdu: नर्मिश्क Narmishka • Tamil: Tadinangu • Marathi: Thorlachampa • Malayalam: Vainavu • Assamese: নোক্তে Nokte • Manipuri: নাগেসৰ Nageshor
Botanical name: Mesua ferrea Family: Clusiaceae (Garcinia family)
A handsome Indian evergreen tree often planted as an ornamental for its fragrant white flowers that yield a perfume; source of very heavy hardwood used for railroad ties. In olden time, the very hard timber was used for making lances. It is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree up to 13 m tall, often buttressed at the base with a trunk up to 90 cm in diameter. It has simple, narrow, oblong, dark green leaves 7-15 cm long, with a whitish underside; the emerging young leaves are red to yellowish pink and drooping. The flowers are 4-7.5 cm diameter, with four white petals and a centre of numerous yellow stamens. The flowers have many uses - they are used to make an incense and also used to stuff pillows in some countries. It is the National tree of Sri Lanka.
Medicinal uses: The leaves are applied to the head in the form of a poultice for severe colds. Oil from the seeds is used for sores, scabies, wounds, and rheumatism. The root of this herb is often used as an antidote for snake poison. The dried flowers are used for bleeding hemorrhoids and dysentery with mucus. Fresh flowers are also prescribed for excessive thirst, excessive perspiration, cough, and for indigestion.

Surangi

Common name: Surangi • Hindi: Surangi सुरंगी • Marathi: Surangi • Konkani: Surangan • Bengali: Nageswar • Oriya: Chiuriana • Sanskrit: Punnag
Botanical name: Mammea suriga Family: Clusiaceae (garcinia family)
Synonyms: Calophyllum suriga
Surangi is a medium size endemic tree confined to Western Ghats. Leaves 6-8, thickly coriaceous, dark green, base rounded, mid rib stout prominent, veins few, indistint, very slender, and nery beautiful in appearance; petiole short. The flowers have an uncanny resemblance to those of Sultan Champa. Infact, one of its synonyms puts it in the same genus as Sultan Champa. It sports beautiful rounded buds, which bloom into four-petaled white flowers. The petals are wide and rounded, and there is a mass of yellow stamens at the center. The flowers are extremely fragrant, and its powerful scent can hit our nostrils even from a distance, say, half a kilometre. Fruit is 1 in long, obliquely ovoid, 1-seeded.