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Hello *|MMERGE5|*,
India is a culturally diverse country with religions that date back thousands of years ago. As a consequence there are many sacred groves scattered across the country, which serve as havens for trees. Because these sacred groves have been consciously protected by locals communities for generations, they are home to unique collection of biodiversity that are often threatened elsewhere. Although each individual sacred grove may be relatively small, collective they provide a range of different habitats for different species.
Apart from sacred groves, we see many temple gardens and forests, which hold trees and plants that are beneficial to the temple. For instance, they might provide oil to the lamps, medicines, fruits and flowers for worship. It is believed that these gardens were planted in a planned manner. Some of these sacred groves or forest patches are so old that they shed light on what forests might have been like in that area several thousand years ago. For more information about the significance of sacred groves click here.
(Photograph credit: Nayantara Lakshman- Peepal tree near Char Diwari Mandir,
Tikamgarh district, Madhya Pradesh)
If you would like to share some stories or pictures (like seen in the picture above) of sacred groves, temple gardens and forests please do so by writing to us at sw@seasonwatch.in.
Ashish Shah and the rest of Team SeasonWatch
Web: www.seasonwatch.in
Email: sw@seasonwatch.in
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SeasonWatch Quiz
How well do you know your trees? Here's a chance for you to find out. Send us your answer to the following question along with your address to sw@seasonwatch.in Winners will receive a postcard which can be addressed to a friend or family member and we will post it out accordingly.
Q. While the red silk cotton is in bloom, its leaves on the tree are;
a. Mature green
b. Brown
c. Red
d. Shed
We will give you the correct answer to this quiz in our next newsletter. So stay tuned!
Previous tree quiz answer:
Traditionally the Amaltas tree flowers in time for which festival? (a) Vishu.
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Featured Tree of the Month
Saptaparni (Alstonia scholaris)
Saptaparni also known as the Devil’s tree is a evergreen tree which grows up to 30 metres or more in the Himalayas, but remains smaller in Delhi because
of the drier conditions. It grows better under moist, warm climate but cannot stand water logging. This tree was first planted in Delhi in the late 1940’s and now is a popular avenue tree. It is also recommended for planting in parks, garden and inside lawns and has been extensively planted in the cities of India because it is a fast-growing evergreen tree.
If you haven’t had the chance to catch this tree flowering then you are in luck as this tree blooms sometime between October and December, although it is not synchronized. You will start to identify small greenish white flowers in tightly packed clusters at the ends of branchlets (as seen in the picture below). Another way to identify these flowers is through their scent which is so strong (especially in the evenings) that it tends to confuse your senses.
 (Photo Credit - Giby Kuriakose)
New, paler flushes of leaves stand out against dark, old leaves in March-April. And again during the rains new ever green leaves emerge. The leaves may look like leaflets of a palmately compound leaf (the leaflets are radiating from the end of the petiole, like fingers of the palm of a hand) but they are actually a collar of 4-8 simple leaves, most often 7, which are attached all around a stem like the spokes of a wheel. Each leaf is up to 24 cm long with many pale lateral nerves which run parallel. These leaves are slightly glossy and dark green above and are sort of dull below. The bluntly pointed tip of the leaf helps distinguish the tree from the other Alstonia (called Batino; Alstonia macrophylla) which have more pointy tips and distant lateral vein.
The fruits of the tree are found in pairs of slim follicles (a dry fruit that is derived from a single carpel and opens on one side only to release its seeds) which look like spindly beans and grow up to 40 cm long. The seeds of the fruit are dispersed from follicles while the follicles are still on the tree. These seeds are flat and have long hairs which help them on their airborne dispersal journey. The fruits are clearly visible from March onwards and begin to split then, giving the tree a somewhat untidy look in April.
The reason that it has scholaris as part of its species name is because its bark was used to make writing slates. This pale greyish-brown bark is solely used for medicinal purposes, ranging from malaria and epilepsy to skin conditions and asthma. It has a distinctive pattern of raised dots which makes it easy to identify the tree. When the trunk is wounded it slowly discharges milky latex which is highly valued for its medical properties and is applied to ulcers. In Ayurveda it is used as an astringent herb for treating skin disorders, malarial fever, urticaria, chronic dysentery, diarrhoea, and snake bite.
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Recap August & September 2015
A hearty welcome to new SeasonWatchers from August & September!
Individuals: Laiju P, Peeyush Sekhsaria, Dr.Nazeer.K.K, Girija.S & vipin kumar
Schools: Carmel Residential Senior Secondary School, G.H.S.S Neeleswaram Mukkom & Islamic VHS School, Orumanayoor,
Most Reported Trees:
Devil's tree (Alstonia scholaris),
Gamar (Gmelina arborea),
Jackfruit,(Artocarpus heterophyllus), Chandada (Macaranga peltata) Rain tree (Samanea saman)
Total number of Observations in August & September: 4367
Total trees observed in August & September: 733
Total observations in the SW database as of September: 78303
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DID YOU KNOW?
How do trees know when to bloom? In some cases it appears to have more to do with duration of night time than with temperature. Plants have a molecule called Phytochrome which acts like an hour glass. This molecule flips soon after the sun goes down like how an hour glass flips allowing the sand grains to fall to the other side. If the grains of sand fall completely to the bottom (or the phytochrome changes completely) due to the long duration of the night, the plant knows that it has to hold back.
But there’s this one magical night where not all of the Phytochrome has changed, giving the bud the signal that it’s time to bloom. And there’s a period of warmer temperatures which help that development to happen. If the temperatures suddenly dip, those buds will get the signal to hold back for that one cold night.
This is work from temperate regions; perhaps trees in the tropics (where the length of the night doesn't change so dramatically through the year) have some other trick up their sleeves?
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Stories from the SeasonWatch Team
'Nature can teach us a lot' is a well-known fact. But students of grade IV, Heritage School, Gurgaon take this fact to another level when they set out to visit the Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur, Rajasthan to understand what the artificially created wetland could teach us.
From the 28th of September to the 2nd of of October they explored the wetland ecosystem with special focus on bird species that visit here. Their young minds were brimming with curiosity when they entered the park today and saw nesting Painted Storks, Cormorants, Darters and Black Headed Ibis.
They could easily relate the presence of nesting birds to abundance of food available in the wetland ecosystem. Many students collected a lot of feathers that were strewn on the ground and were curious to know which bird it belonged to.
The exposure of students to such concepts at a young age is now a rising trend amongst schools. Seasonality has a very important role to play in lives of migratory birds that will visit the park soon.
Regards,
Ashish Shah
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Led by their SeasonWatch coordinatior, Ms Sumangala, C.M.G.H.S.S., Kuttur have been with us since November 2010 and have uploaded 9643 observations till date. This is the only school observing 25 species, which means that they are observing all the trees on the SeasonWatch tree list for Kerala. While observing and monitoring all 25 species, they realized that many common trees have vanished from their area, including Erythrina indica.
It’s very inspiring to see the dedication of two of the students from this school, who travel a distance of 9 km from school to the area where their trees are, just to observe their tree, "Mullu Murikku" or Erythrina indica.
Ten years back, this tree was very common in their area as a fencing tree because of its thorny bark, but now days the use for this tree has reduced. After being more observant on their SeasonWatch walks, the children have realized that many species of trees are under risk.
Another school which deserves acknowledgement is HDP Samajam English medium school, Edathirinji which is led by their SeasonWatch coordinator Ms Sree Devi and have uploaded 3398 observations till date. Ms Sree Devi has set a great example for her students by observing 10 trees herself. She takes help from the parents of the SeasonWatchers as the children are younger than an average SeasonWatcher.
In order to appreciate the good work done by these schools from Thrissur, they were presented with an award which was given away by George P Mathachan, DFO Thrissur.
Regards,
Nizar
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