Students and teachers of Carmel School, Peyad, in association with Tree Walk, a tree lovers’ forum, went on a walk around the museum and zoo campus here on Friday morning in search of the four Es—evergreen, endangered, endemic, and exotic—of trees and plants.
The walk focused on evergreen trees on the campus such as the Indian cork tree, Java olive tree, Venezuelan rose, Shimshipa tree, ebony, Buddha’s coconut, Indian bullet wood, myrobalan, Malabar iron wood, and tree lettuce.
One significant tree on the campus was the endemic Malabar iron wood. This tree is also endangered on account of the loss of the rainforest ecosystem it grows in.
Flower power
The students took special note of exotic trees such as the Venezulan rose and Tabebuia which have beautiful flowers.
Yet another exotic tree that caught the students’ attention was the Calabash tree native to North America/West Indies, also called the beggar’s bowl.
The evergreen and exotic cannon ball tree from Central and South America is also present on the premises. The tree, which has fragrant flowers and huge fruits, has become almost native, being very common in temple orchards and groves.
The tree lettuce with its pale green leaves is native to the Andaman islands.
The Myrobalan tree, Shimshipa, Buddha’s coconut, and ebony all belong to Southeast Asia.
The walk was led by resource persons Santhi, Veena M., and Namitha with support from Jean Nettar and Meenakshi M.A.
School faculty members Beena Antony, Jyoti Hari, Deepthi, and Suma gave their inputs to the students of Classes 6 and 10.
Knowledge sharing
The walk helped arouse curiosity and wonder about trees, their distribution, and species. The students undertook to share this knowledge with their classmates and organise an interaction with Tree Walk at the school.
The walk was also connected to a link programme that the students had taken up as part of a project supported by the British Council. As part of it, the school will exchange notes about evergreen habitats and trees with a school in Nepal.
