INTRODUCTION TO THE INDIAN CORK TREE

                    INDIAN CORK TREE

Family - Bignoniaceae

Scientific name - Millingtonia hortensis

COMMON NAMES –

   1) In English it is called the Jasmine tree.

   2) In Hin) di Akas nim or Nim chameli.

   3) In Bengali Minr chambeli or Cork gach.

   4) In Tamil karkku.

   5) In Telugu Kavuku.

GROWING AREAS:

   1) It is originally originated from Burma and Malaysia.

   2) This is a tree that grows well all over India.

   3) It has been grown in this country for a very long time, and grows wild in parts of central India.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

   1) It is usually planted because of its beauty and its fast growth.

   2) But it has very shallow roots and doesn’t allow many plants to grow underneath it.

   3) It is a tall, straight, evergreen tree with dark yellowish-grey bark which is rough and cracked.

   4) It has few branches but these bend down and show off the lovely dark green leaves.

LEAVES OF THE JASMINE TREE:

   1) The whole leaf is made up of small leaflets that grow in pairs up the leaf stem and end with one single leaflet.

                                         

   2) The leaves are shed gradually during early spring, January to March, so that the tree is never bare.

FLOWERS OF THE JASMINE TREE:

   1) It flowers from April to June and then again in the autumn, September to December, which is the main flowering season.

   2) The waxy looking flowers are shining white in colour and some have patches of pink in them.

                                      

   3) They have a long tubelike lower end to which four petals are attached.

   4) One of these has a deep split in it so that it looks as if there are five petals.

   5) The flowers grow in bunches on stems at the end of the branchlets.

   6) When they fall they leave the ground carpeted in white.

FRUITS OF THE JASMINE TREE:

   1) The Cork tree doesn’t produce seeds very easily.

                                     

   2) The seeds grow inside long thin seed-cases with pointed ends and each thin seed has a delicate wing.

USES OF THE JASMINE TREE:

   1) The bark of the tree, which can easily be pulled off in chunks is used to make a rather poor type of cork.

   2) The wood is very soft and breaks easily.

   3) It therefore often snaps off in a strong wind, so it is not a very suitable tree to plant along roadsides.

   4) The wood is used for some furniture and is very pale yellowish-white in colour.

   5) When branches break off a new stem grows again very fast, making the tree look untidy.

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INTRODUCTION TO TULIP TREE

 

TULIP TREE

Family – Bignoniaceae

Scientific name – Spathodea campanulate

Common names –

1)  Squirt Tree, Syringe Tree, Scarlet Bell Tree, Bell Flambeau, Fountain tree and sometimes wrongly Flame tree in English.   

 2) Rugtoora in Hindi.

 3) Patade in Telugu.

 4) Patadi in Tamil.

Growing areas –

      1) This tree originally came from tropical Africa and then brought Sri Lanka and India.

      2) It grows well in tropical countries, and mostly in drier area.

      3) In the moist soil it does not grow ae well large as in drier areas.

General Information ­–

      1) The wood of this tree is very soft, due to this the branches are easily broken, therefore this tree can easily been damage by the wind.

      2) It is fast growing, tall and deciduous in the dry areas, in moist areas it has medium height and it is semi-evergreen.

      3) It is narrow slender tree with upright main branches and straight trunk.

      4) The bark of this tree is light grey and rough.

Leaves, flowers, fruit and uses of the Tulip Tree :

  Leaves of the Tulip Tree –

      1) The leaves are deep green oval which fallen during February to March.

      2) They are coarse and deeply marked veins.

  Flowers of the Tulip Tree –

      1) The flowers are also appear in February and March but often go on flowering into monsoon.

      2) There is a second flowering season from October to December.

      3) First, velvety olive-green buds appear in huge bunches at the end of the branches followed by the blooms of orange, bright red and dark red which are beautiful to look.

      4) When the flower buds are squeezed a jet of water comes out.

  Fruit of the Tulip Tree –

      1) This has fruits in moist areas is difficult to see.

      2) But in drier areas or tropical areas this problem not happens and the fruits are appear.

      3) The fruits are lanced-shaped, smooth, wood-like and dark brown, containing winged seeds.

  Uses of the Tulip Tree –

      1) This trees are planted often for their beauty.

      2) In Africa the fruits are boiled and the poisonous liquid is obtained which hunters use to kill the prey.

      3) The soft wood won’t burn and is seldom used except for the sides of blacksmiths’ bellows.

Watch the video for more information :

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