22 November 2018

Native Beauty (ThursdayTreeLove)

My walks take me to an urban forest, which is protected to some extent. It mainly consists of Glyricidia sepium but some natives have survived and continue to thrive. This forest is a popular spot for health walkers on a daily basis and on weekends for bird watchers and photographers. Besides keeping up the heart rate and covering my mandatory distance, I keep a look out for the flora and it has paid rich dividends in helping me identify trees.

Today I am sharing a tree that I have seen growing only in the hills of Pune (of course, it does grow in other parts of India). It is locally called Dhawda and is a species of the Anogeissus genus of the Combretaceae family. I have not managed to identify down to to the specific name but based on descriptions in the book "आपले  वृक्ष" by Prof SD Mahajan, I think it could be Anogeissus latifolia. It is a native species which is decidious in nature.


Surprisingly they are not found all over the hill forest but only in some sections.. maybe it has something to do with the underlying soil/rock which may have created a unique habitat suitable for this species. The plant grows to about 15 feet and its light coloured bark has whitish spots. Leaves are subopposite The tree becomes almost leafless in winter and then breaks into delicate inconspicuous flowers somewhere in March. The fruit is spiny , green initially and turns brownish red later.


Fruit
Subopposite leaves
Whitish spots on the trunk
A beautiful tree in whatever the season! Growing as they do in a protected area (for now), these trees seem to be happy here. I hope and pray they continue to grow and prosper in this habitat! While all trees are beautiful it is important to nurture natives.

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Head over to see some beautiful trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

12 comments:

Dr Genevive Angela said...

I admire your interest to gather so much information on trees, thanks for sharing. I learn so much even though I have difficulty pronouncing the names properly:) never seen these trees.

Alana said...

New to me who lives in the Northeast United States; I looked this tree up to find a common name of "Axlewood", harvested for "gums and tannins", frequently planted for soil stabilization - I wonder if that is why you only find it in certain areas of this protected forest - were they deliberately planted to aid in soil stabilization? Perhaps this is an explanation. It sounds like they will grow and prosper where they are.

magiceye said...

Interesting.

Archana said...

Thank you Angela. Happy for you to stop by!

Archana said...

@Alana - no idea if these were deliberately planted... I think not.. I hope they continue to prosper! Thanks for sharing your research! And for stopping by :-)

Archana said...

Thank you @magiceye !

arv said...

Lovely find. We have Anogiessus Pendula growing here in Jaipur which is a resident tree of Aravali hills, India's oldest hill range. It is called Dhok tree locally. I have written about it twice. The latest one is while hiking through a forest full of these trees. You should check it out.

Archana said...

@arv Jpr Yes, I have read your post on the Anogeissus... A wonderful species! Thanks for stopping by :-)

Parul said...

What a find. I don't think I have seen this tree in Bangalore. Never heard of that name too. Thank you for sharing.

Archana said...

Happy to share @Parul! Thanks!!

Nicole Pottier said...

Great discovering ! I love the photo with the fruit.

Archana said...

Thank you so much Nicole!