Hobbies And Interests
Commercially Important Trees
The melia or chinaberry is a member of the mahogany family that grows to a height of 50 feet. It has pinnate leaves and lilac flowers that appear at the beginning of summer. One of its names is the bead tree, as beads were made from the seeds. The fleshy part of the fruit has an unpleasant smell when ripe and the red brown wood is used for small objects. The teak tree can reach a height of 200 feet in its native forests. It has a slender trunk, a round crown and ovate leaves that are very downy on their underside. The flowers of are bluish white and grow on panicles, but some are sterile and the fruits have few fertile seeds. The tree is renown for its beautiful and durable timber.
Trees with Medicinal Uses
Nux vomica grows to 40 to 45 feet and has gray bark and many branches. The flowers are small and white and the fruits are large berries that are at first green then turn reddish yellow. The flesh is white, sticky and bitter and the seeds within are extremely poisonous -- they're a source of strychnine and nux vomica, which gives the tree its name. The tree is exclusively tropical and only can be grown in a hothouse away from its native climate. Cinnamon is an evergreen tree from 20 to 33 feet tall with an erect trunk and a pale brown bark that is stripped from the tree, dried and used to make cinnamon, which has not only has uses, but medicinal ones as well. Cinnamon and its oil are mild digestive stimulants, astringents and antinausea treatments.
Trees With Culinary Uses
The Latin name for the horseradish tree, Moringa, comes from the Sinhalese word "morunga." It's a small tree that grows to 25 feet with a soft and corky bark. The leaves can grow to 20 inches long and have stalked leaflets. The flowers grow in fragrant white panicles. An oil is extracted from the seeds that never goes rancid and is used for delicate precision machinery and watchmaking. The roots of the horseradish tree also are used as spices and condiments. Sesbania grandiflora isn't a very long-lived tree that grows to 33 feet high. It has 12-inch-long leaves that have 20 to 30 pairs of thin pale green leaflets. The flowers can be bright pink, white, dark red or nearly rust colored and are eaten in Southeast Asia. The fruit is a curved pod about 12 inches long and is also eaten.
Ornamental Trees
The banyan tree also is called the strangler fig. It can grow to 100 feet tall and sends down aerial roots from its branches that at first absorb moisture from the air. When they reach the ground they penetrate it so the part still above the ground becomes a stem with its own root while remaining attached to the parent tree. Eventually the tree becomes its own thicket. The leaves of the banyan are oval and leathery and the fruits are red and round. Young specimens can be kept in a greenhouse away from its native climate but they never bear fruit. The bauhinia or orchid tree can grow to 33 feet tall. The leaf blade is divided into two lobes with many veins and the flowers have five pink club-shaped petals. One of them is larger than the others and striped yellow and white. The fruit is up to 20 inches long with several seeds. Though the leaves and buds of the orchid tree are eaten in India, the tree mainly is used for ornament.