Trees and Shrubs

Flame of the forest:-
Description: Bears a dense mass of orange blossoms in February and March, as if on fire. Also known as Dhak or Palas, it is a small-to medium sized deciduous tree with a ragged shape, a crooked, gnarled trunk and rough, ashy grey bark. Each leaf has three broad, oval, leathery leaflets at right angle to each other. The veins on the underside stand out. Leaf fall is between November and January and fresh leaves appear after the tree as flowered. The flowers are each as big as an adults tthenhumb, shaped like a parrots beak, with velvety, dark, olive-green calices and grouped in threes along a stalk of the same colour. The fruits is a flat, thin, very light pod, 8-12 cm long, pale green fading to yellowish brown, with a swelling at the top where the single seed is located.

Distribution and uses:
Common, indigenous to India and found scattered singly all over the country, more usually in open countryside than the thick forest. It grows on poor, even saline soil, tolerating both frost and drought, and farmers value it highly because it produces excellent firewood and tolerate even the most drastic lopping. A dye from the flower was formerly used to make the coloured water thrown at the holi festival. There are many religious associations because of its trifoliate leaf, this being interpreted as representing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Bamboo [FAM: Poaceae]
Description:There are several species of bamboo found in the forests of India, of which the commonest is Dendrocalamus strictus. Bamboos are perennial grasses that can be as tall as trees and have woody stems. Usually there grow as a clump with a dense mass of canes that can be branched or unbranched. The flowers are small but they only appear after several years of growth. After flowering the bamboo dies. Sometimes all the bamboo in a district flowers simultaneously.

Teak [FAM: Verbenaceae]
Description:A deciduous tree which can reach 30-40 m in height, though most are much smaller. The bark is ash grey and the branches upward spreading. Between June and September the plate-like but broadly pointed leaves appear, rough on their upper surface and soft and felt-like below. They grow pair wise, each pair oriented in the opposite direction to the next. At the same time the tree is covered with very large pyramids of tiny, white, scented flowers. The leaves often become threadbare as a result of insect attack long before they actually fall off at the end of the season.

Distribution and uses:
The natural distribution of teak is in central and southern India and in Burma, in inland areas with a moist, tropical climate. The wood does not warp. However India Teak is not such a good quality as Burmese teak, and today many of the stands have been left to grow naturally in forest reservations and national parks.