Endangered ‘trees of life’ blossom at Rani Bagh

MUMBAI: Did you know the heritage botanical garden at Rani Bagh in Byculla, spread over a 53 acre-plot, is home to 286 species of trees, totalling a whopping 3,213? The garden hosts one such endangered species of trees Guaiacum officinale (Lignum Vitae).

Two baobabs stand as sentinels on either side of the triple triumphal arch entrance.
To commemorate the garden's 150-year milestone, the Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Action Committee will take you on a nature trail into these woods every week. The trails will give a glimpse of the flowering and fruiting trees, their medicinal values and the various birds and insects each tree attracts.

Hard to find in Mumbai, but one can find an avenue lined by Lignum Vitae here. The trees bloom twice a year and during this time they look as if brought out of a fairy tale, say tree lovers.

THE SERENITY OF the Japanese garden attracts both people and winter birds.
The tree's small-leaved canopy gets interspersed with bunches of flowers of shades of blue, the youngest being inky and the oldest white, all of which are visited by 'carpenter bees'. The flowers ultimately transform into tiny orange berries, each containing a seed covered with ruby red aril. These berries draw frugivorous birds: Alexandrine and Roseringed Parakeets, and the Red Vented and Red Whiskered Bulbuls.

CORDIA SUBCORDATA, OR Beach cordia.
A native of the Caribbeans, centuries ago, the tree was revered by aborigines and its gum was used for medicinal cures. Hence, earlier it was called Lignum vitae, which translates as 'Trees of Life'. The gum is also used by forensic scientists to detect almost invisible blood traces as a chemical in the gum can react with blood to form a dark blue colouration. Known to be the hardest, Lignum vitae's wood is one of the few ones that sink in water but do not rot and hence the tree is in much demand to make boat propellers.

LIGNUM VITAE IN bloom.
However, as the tree is exploited due to its properties, compounded with the fact that it is difficult for the tree to propagate, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorized it as endangered. (Details and pictures by members of Save RaniBagh Botanical Garden Action Committee).

SCHLEICHERA OLEOSA, OR kusum.

SHUBHADA NIKHARGE

THE WOMEN BEHIND the Save Rani Bagh movement.