Indian Cork Tree is cultivated in most parts of India, both in gardens and avenues. Tall and straight, with comparatively few branches, its popularity lies in its ornamental value. It is a fine tree, fast growing, but with brittle wood, liable to be damaged by storms. In favourable positions it can grow to 24 m tall. The ashy bark is cracked and furrowed and the numerous fissures make removal of the cork an easy matter. It is used as an inferior substitute for true cork. From April until the rains and again in November and December, a profusion of silvery-white, delightfully fragrant flowers crown the foliage. Upright open clusters with arching blooms terminate every branchlet. Each flower is a tiny bell-shaped calyx, a long slender tube of palest green dividing into four waxy, white petals and several conspicuous yellow anthered stamens. Many flowers are delicately tinted with rose. As the flowers are short-lived, the flower sprays mostly consist largely of long whitish buds, while the ground below is spangled with innumerable little stars. Between January and March the leaves are shed and renewed during April and May, although the tree is never quite naked. The long leaves bear two or three widely spaced pinnae, each with five or seven smooth leaflets, oval, pointed and slightly round-toothed. Each is from 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long. Sometimes the lower pinnae, are again divided and bear one pair of three leaved pinnae, one or two pairs of leaflets and one leaflet at the end. The fruit is very long and narrow, pointed at both ends and contains thin flat seeds. Trees do not seed very easily in India. The long, fragrant flowers are commonly woven into an ornamental braid called Veni in Maharashtra.
Vasaka, also called adhatoda, malabar nut, consists of dried, as well as fresh, leaves of the plant Justicia adhatoda, belonging to family Acanthaceae.
The name of this plant was derived from Malayalam . The leaves of this plant was not eaten by goats as it is bitter.This herb is very widely found and it was common to have a brew made with these leaves boiled in water with black pepper corns added. The benefits were captured in the western system of medicine and the extracts are used in expectorants.
Vasaka is used in ayurveda abundantly for different diseases, this is the only herb which can pacify both pitta and kapha doshas. The details of this herb in Ayurveda is as follows- Sanskrit Name: Vasa Vasaka Vasika - Means one which covers a large area, here area coverage stands for a protective cover on the body Singhasya- Means a plant having flowers like the mouth of the lion Vajidanta-Means a plant having white flowers like the teeth of a horse Vrusha- Means one that showers the honey i.e. having a lot of nectar Aatrushaka.
Lt. Name: Adhatoda vasica- Acanthaceae
Bio energetics: Rasa (Taste)- Tikta (Bitter); Kashaya (Astringent) Guna (Characteristics)- Laghu (Light); Ruksha (Rough) Veerya (Potency)- Sheeta (Cool and calm) Vipaka (Post digestion effect)- Katu (Pungent)
Action according to Ayurveda: Shwashara- Useful in Respiratory discomfort specially asthematic conditions Kasahara- Useful in acute as well as cough Chhardihara- Alleviates nauseatic conditions Vatakrit- Increases air component in the body Swarya- Improves voice Hrudya- Cardiac tonic Trid hrit- Alleviates excessive thirst Kushthahara- Useful in all types of skin diseases Kshayapaha- Useful in emaciation, undernutrition and all similar conditions Raktapittahara- Useful in bleeding tendencies.
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Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed. Peppercorns, and the powdered pepper derived from grinding them, may be described simply as pepper, or more precisely as black pepper, white pepper, or green pepper. Green peppercorns are simply the immature black peppercorns.
Black peppers are native to India and are extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. Currently Vietnam is by far the world's largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world's Piper nigrum crop as of 2008.
Dried ground pepper has been used since antiquity for both its flavor and as a medicine. Black pepper is the world's most traded spice. It is one of the most common spices added to European cuisine and its descendants. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine. It may be found on nearly every dinner table in the industrialized world, often alongside table salt.
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Common name :- Crab's eye
Botanical name :- Abrus precatorius
Other common names :- Gidee-gidee, Jequirity bean,
Rosary pea, Precatory bean.
Family :- Fabaceae
General description :- A native perennial vine of coastal
areas, sometimes grown as a garden
ornamental.
Flowers :- The pea flowers are 1–1.2cm long, pink,
white or purple.
Leaves :- The leaves are alternating on the stem, with 7–15
pairs of oblong leaflets that are 6–25mm long and
2–8mm wide.
Fruit/Berries :- The fruit are pods 4–5cm long, and about 12mm wide, dark grey, splitting to reveal bright red and black seeds when ripe. The seeds are about 6mm long, rounded or ovoid, hard and shiny. The seed can sometimes be white and unspotted.
Other :- The sap is clear.
Symptoms :- Chewed or broken seeds are toxic when ingested. One seed contains sufficient toxin to kill an adult. However, if the seed remains unbroken then the toxin may not be released. Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, severe diarrhoea, disorientation and death. Symptoms may be rapid or delayed 1–3 days.
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Name :- NIRGUNDI
Filename :- Vitex_negundo_.jpg
Botanical name :- Vitex negundo Linn.
Family :- Verbenaceae
SANSKRIT SYNONYMS
Nirgundi, sindhuvara, Neelamanjari,Indranika, Indrasurasa, Bhoothakeshi, Neelika
AYURVEDIC PROPERTIES
Rasa : Katu, Tikta, Kashaya
Guna : Lakhu, Rooksha,
Virya : Ushna
PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
English : Five leaved chaste tree
Hindi : Samhalu, Saubhalu,Nirgandi
Malayalam : Karunocci
PLANT DESCRIPTION
An aromatic large shrub or small tree of about 3 meters in height with quadrangular branches; leaves opposite, extipulate, long petioled and digitately 3-5 foliolate, all leaflets with petiolules, the middle one longer flowers bluish purple in panicles, up to 30 cm long; fruits globose or ovoid or obovoid, four seeded drupe, black when ripe.
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
Plant pacifies vitiated vata, arthritis, inflammations, lumbago, dyspepsia, colic, flatulence, dysentery, wounds, ulcers, bronchitis, cough, malarial fever, hemorrhoids, dysmenorrhoea, leprosy, and general debility.
Useful part : Whole plant.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hatha Jodi is a plant. It is actually a plant`s root with two branches resembling human arms. There is an outline of claw at the end of the arms. The claw in the form of fingers, looks as though it were a human figure who is clenching (tightening) the fists. If both branches of this root are severed and joined together, its shape resembles a clasped hand (folded hand). The plant is mostly found in Madhya Pradesh. The forest tribes just cut it out (uproot) and sell it. Hatha Jodi possesses bizarre and providential effects. It is an incarnation of goddess Chamunda. It has outstanding powers to beguile, to hypnotise, to shield people and enhances financial condition. Hatha Jodi should be perfected after tantrik routines (rituals) and made prosperous.
Hatha Jodi shields its worshipper in journeys, discussions, interviews and battle grounds. It furnishes him with triumph. He is no more frightened of supernatural spirits, like ghosts etc. It has proven pretty effective in imparting money and opulence. It holds immense importance in tantrik activities. But Hatha Jodi is advantageous only when it is pure. renders promote only when it has been appropriately worshipped. A used Hatha Jodi can be of no advantage to any person. Hence, it must always be fresh.
It is available in all sizes- small and big, but each one is equally efficient. Normally its configuration is the same, as twin arms with folded fingers i.e. the fist.
The Method of Worship - Firstly, one needs to get hold of a Hatha Jodi. On Sunday it needs to be washed with Ganges water in an auspicious time and then placed on a piece of red cloth. When the water dries up, it should be dipped into raw mustard oil and preserved well. The Hatha Jodi should be submerged wholly in oil. The oil pot needs to be placed in a devout place.
It should be preserved for 15 or 21 days ain the same place as it is. The Hatha Jodi must be taken out from oil at an auspicious time and again placed on the piece of red cloth and needs to be worshipped with Shri Hanuman ji with vermilion (sindoor), sandal, flowers and rice. After worshipping, one must recite the mantra counting beads of 9, 11, 21 rounds of the mala and place it inside a small box with some vermilion, camphor, clove, rice and a silver piece.
To view it or look at it daily is regarded most favourable. A Hatha Jodi`s control is augmented by lighting dhoop and chanting mantras. Its results can surely be obtained if it is exercised and worshipped along with mantras with total faith, observing spiritual rules. It has been evidenced true by experience that total faith and purity is obligatory during its reverence.
The only mantra that can be recited or chanted is "Om Aim Hreem Kleem Chaamundayai Vichchai". Therefore, having performed all the rituals to precision, the Hatha Jodi beqeaths accomplishment in every sphere of life.
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Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries.
The closely related genus Broussonetia is also commonly known as mulberry, notably the Paper Mulberry, Broussonetia papyrifera. Mulberries are swift-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing and rarely exceed 10–15 m (33–49 ft) tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, often lobed, more often lobed on juvenile shoots than on mature trees, and serrated on the margin.
The fruit is a multiple fruit, 2–3 cm (0.79–1.2 in) long. The fruits when immature are white or green to pale yellow with pink edges. In most species the fruits are red when they are ripening, turning dark purple to black and have a sweet flavor. The fruits of the white-fruited cultivar of the white mulberry are green when young and white when ripe; the fruit in this cultivar is also sweet but has a very mild flavor compared with the darker variety.
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Malabathrum, also known as Malobathrum or Malabar leaf, is the name used in classical and medieval texts for the leaf of the plant Cinnamomum tamala (sometimes given as Cinnamomum tejpata)[citation needed]. In ancient Greece and Rome, the leaves were used to prepare a fragrant oil, called Oleum Malabathri, and were therefore valuable. The leaves are mentioned in the 1st century Greek text Periplus Maris Erytraei as one of the major exports of the Malabar coast which is the present Kerala coast. In the language of Kerala that is, Malayalam, the plant is called 'Vazhana'. It is also known as 'Edana' in Malayalam. The name Malabathrum is also used in mediaeval texts to describe the dried leaves of a number of trees of the genus Cinnamomum, which were thought to have medicinal properties.
Curry leaves are aromatic herbs that have a special place in South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. In fact, now it's also an important ingredient in Malaysian and Thai cooking. Curry leaves are used as a unique flavouring agent [due to presence of volatile oils] making it impossible to make rasam and sambar without them.Curry leaves have a natural mild laxative effect. To relieve constipation, soak curry leaves in warm water for two hours and drink the water with a teaspoon of honey early in the morning. It will help to cleanse the system and improve your appetite. Alternatively, fresh curry leaves juice can also be mixed with buttermilk. This mixture can be consumed three times in a day for effective results.To control morning sickness, especially during pregnancy, you can prepare a decoction with one tsp curry leaves juice, one tbsp lime juice and one tsp honey. Preferably consume it early in the morning. Another simple option is to add few curry leaves while brewing tea.In South India, fresh curry leaves are used to control blood sugar in non-insulin dependent diabetics. It is believed that eating 10 fresh raw curry leaves daily, early in the morning can help manage diabetes and can show good results in about three months. Another remedy includes consuming ground curry leaves mixed with curd. It is also believed to reduce cholesterol levels and aid in weight loss.
Recent studies have also indicated that there might be a link between curry leaves and their beneficial effects against lung cancer cells.
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Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennial plant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and asparagus in the Asparagaceae. Asparagus officinalis is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, and is widely cultivated as a vegetable crop.
Screw Pine (Pandanus fascicularis, syn. P. odoratissimus, nom. illeg.) is a species of Pandanus native to southern Asia, from southern India east to Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands south of Japan, and south to Indonesia. Common names include Kewra केवडा.
It is a shrub with fragrant flowers.The flower is mentioned in the Brahma's story as the cursed flower. It is also known as keora (keura or keori) or keya (kia).
It is used as perfume. aromatic oil (kevda oil) and fragrant distillation (otto) called "keorra-ka-arak". These are stimulant and antispasmodic and are used in headache and rheumatism. The flowers are also used to flavour food; kevda essence is used in numerous Indian milk sweets, as well as for candied gourd / winter squash (petha).
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Scientific name: Hyophorbe lagenicaulis
Common names: Bottle Palm
Family: Arecaceae
Origin: The Bottle Palm Tree is native to the Mascarene Islands, which are in the Indian Ocean just East of Madagascar.
Appearance: Hyophorbe lagenicaulis has a single, trunk, about 2ft in diameter with ring scars and green crownshaft at the top. The gray, self-cleaning trunk is bottle shaped, hence the name Bottle Palm. The Bottle Palm has a small crown of 4-6 4 to 8 pinnate, or feather-like, leaves that can grow up to 10ft. It has 140 leaflets arranged in two upward pointing rows which grow to about 2ft long.Bottle palm tree2 Bottle Palm Tree Hyophorbe lagenicaulis.
Flowers/Fruits: The Bottle Palm produces beautiful white flowers that are held by 30 in. stalks coming from below the crownshaft. Flowers are monoecious, male and female flowers on the same inflorescence. Flowers are followed by green black berry like fruits that turn black when ripe. Oval shaped fruit is around 1.5 inches long and contains a single seed inside.
Growth Rate: Slow. This is a slow growing palm that can get up to 10 – 20 ft tall and 10 – 15 ft wide, but usually is much shorter around 10ft.
Outdoor/Indoor Use: Both. This palm can also be grown indoors in a container.
Cold Tolerance: Bottle Palm is not cold hardy and will not tolerate frost. It can handle temperature down to 30F. It is great for USDA Zones 10a (30 to 35 F) to 11 (above 40 F).
Light Req: This dwarf palm tree does well in a shade or partial shade. It can survive a full sun if provided plenty of water.
Water Req: It can adapt to different kinds of soil but likes moist well drain soil.
Maintenance: Easy to maintain.
Insects and Diseases: Very healthy palm.
Propagation: Bottle Palm is propagated by seeds. It takes around 5 – 6 months to germinate.
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Duranta is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. It contains 17 species of shrubs and small trees that are native from southern Florida to Mexico and South America. They are commonly cultivated as hedges and ornamental plants.
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The campus of falak Complex is famous all over the Maharashtra due to a very old rare ever green tree Named : "Kailashpati" As per Hindu mythology, story behind "Kailashpati" due to its specific look of flowers. One can see a "Shivling, Chatra of "Sheshnag" over it surrounded by beautiful pettals. Called " Shivful".Other name is Cannonball tree & also called " Naglingam".It's botnical name is coroupita guianensis.
This tree is still protected by local authorities in road widening due to its " Unique Beauty"
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Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Magnoliopsida
Order : Fabales
Family : Fabaceae
Subfamily : Mimosoideae
Genus : Accacia
Species : A. chundra
Scientific Name : Acacia chundra
Description : It is the moderate size deciduous tree. It has rough bark which is dark gray brown in colour. It grows up to the height of 15 meter. The leave are 8 -10 cm long. It has short curved stipular spines and rough grayish brown bark. The flowers are pale yellow in colour. They start appearing khair-treein the month of June -August. Fruits ripen in January to March and remain in the tree for long. The young parts are dark brown to purple in colour. The tree has tough texture from outside.
Other Species : Acacia sundra, Mimosa sundra are some of the related species of Khair tree.
Location : It grows throughout India from the Himalayas to the South of India. Khair tree is widely grown in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Corbett National Park and Ranthambore National Park in India.
Cultivation methods : It is mainly propagated through the stumps or seeds. The seeds are mostly shown in the month of June. It is planted on sandy and black cotton soil. The seeds germinate in the monsoons. Khair should be sown on mounds at least 61 to 76 cm in height so that the seedlings do not remain submerged in water for a long period; a few weeks’ submersion is not fatal. Irrigation is necessary for the plant. Cuttings should be made from the well developed seedlings. The root and shoot should be 23 31 cm and 2.5 to 5.0 cm respectively.
Medicinal uses : Khair tree is very useful in the dental problems. It gives relief in dry cough. It is also given in stomatis, Anaemia, Leprosy, Bronchitis, Pruritus, Diarrhoea, Polyuria. Its wood contains catechin, catechutanic acid and tannin. It is used externally for ulcers, boils and eruption of the skin. The juice of the fresh bark is given in haemoptysis. It is used to treat painful throat and cough.
Other uses : The pale yellow mucilaginous gum exudes from the tree yield one of the beast substitutes for true gum arabic. The wood extracts are used for tanning and dying Khaki. Its wood is used as the raw material in the raw industry. Its wood is used in ship building. Its wood is even a food for bees. It is even used as the fire for yagna. The wood of Khair is used in making the plough and the pounding log for rice.
Cultural Importance : The Khair tree signifies endurance and strength.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shankasur :- Caesalpinia pulcherrima is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the tropics and subtropics of the Americas. Its exact origin is unknown due to widespread cultivation. Common names for this species include Poinciana, Peacock Flower, Red Bird of Paradise, Mexican Bird of Paradise, Dwarf Poinciana, Pride of Barbados, and flamboyan-de-jardin.
Notes :It is a shrub growing to 3 m tall. The leaves are bipinnate, 20-40 cm long, bearing 3-10 pairs of pinnae, each with 6-10 pairs of leaflets 15-25 mm long and 10-15 mm broad. The flowers are borne in racemes up to 20 cm long, each flower with five yellow, orange or red petals. The fruit is a pod 6-12 cm long.
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Barringtonia racemosa , often referred to by common names such as Fish poison Wood, Barringtonia, Brack-Water Mangrove, Common Putat, Freshwater Mangrove, Hippo Apple, Powder-puff Tree and Wild Guava. Is a native of the Phillipines but occurs over a large range, including the northern parts of Australia. The young leaves of Barintonia racemosa are used as vegetables,etc.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Euphorbia is a genus of plants belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Consisting of 2008 species, Euphorbia is one of the most diverse genera in the plant kingdom, exceeded possibly only by Senecio.[citation needed] Members of the family and genus are sometimes referred to as Spurges. Euphorbia antiquorum is the type species for the genus Euphorbia; it was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum. The genus is primarily found in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and the Americas, but also in temperate zones worldwide. Succulent species originate mostly from Africa, the Americas and Madagascar. There exists a wide range of insular species: on the Hawaiian Islands where spurges are collectively known as "akoko",and on the Canary Islands as "tabaibas".
The plants are annual or perennial herbs, woody shrubs or trees with a caustic, poisonous milky sap (latex). The roots are fine or thick and fleshy or tuberous. Many species are more or less succulent, thorny or unarmed. The main stem and mostly also the side arms of the succulent species are thick and fleshy, 15–91 cm (6–36 inches) tall. The deciduous leaves are opposite, alternate or in whorls. In succulent species the leaves are mostly small and short-lived. The stipules are mostly small, partly transformed into spines or glands, or missing.
Like all members of the family Euphorbiaceae, all spurges have unisexual flowers. In Euphorbia these are greatly reduced and grouped into pseudanthia called cyathia. The majority of species are monoecious (bearing male and female flowers on the same plant), although some are dioecious with male and female flowers occurring on different plants. It is not unusual for the central cyathia of a cyme to be purely male, and for lateral cyathia to carry both sexes. Sometimes young plants or those growing under unfavorable conditions are male only, and only produce female flowers in the cyathia with maturity or as growing conditions improve. The bracts are often leaf-like, sometimes brightly coloured and attractive, sometimes reduced to tiny scales. The fruits are three (rarely two) compartment capsules, sometimes fleshy but almost always ripening to a woody container that then splits open (explosively, see explosive dehiscence). The seeds are 4-angled, oval or spherical, and in some species have a caruncle.
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This was an Educational Trip to the Botanical Garden at "Sagar Upvan" at Mumbai Port . It was a beautiful and full of knowledge gaining trip for the North Mumbai Welfare Society High School Children.
All the above pics are taken by DEEPAK MAHANA a student of N.M.W.S.School.
