Trees, like strangers, are part of the invisible city. Few acknowledge them or stop to see how they have aged, and mourn their loss when they are gone. At the tree walk conducted by NGO Nizhal at Queen Mary’s College, one of the oldest in the city, many gathered to acknowledge the unlabelled trees on the sprawling campus. The group learnt about how each tree, shrub and weed had a story to tell.
This exercise of establishing ‘kinship’ with living trees began with the Indian Tulip tree, whose leaves are shaped like the heart, and flowers, like sprightly yellow loudspeakers. The native tree, said T.D. Balu, core member, Nizhal, and guide for the tour, is suited to coastal areas and the ash obtained from burning its leaves is used to cure insect bites.
The flowers of the Cannon Ball tree, which was next on the trail, came to be called n agalinga poo because its flowers resembled the hood of a snake, and its fruits resemble a cannon ball. What set this tree apart, he said, was that unlike most species, its flowers and fruits grew on the trunk itself.
He also said that mistaking the Mast tree, for the Ashoka tree was common. “There was a myth that planting an Ashoka tree at home would bring sorrow, because shokam meant sorrow. The density of the Mast tree’s wood is so high that it was used as material to build masts in ships,” he said.
The national tree of India, the banyan, he said, derived its name because baniyas or merchants conducted business under its shade, and the Tamarind tree, he said, would make for a great avenue tree because it acted as a coolant.
And if you are stressed out, all you have to do is stand under the Bulletwood tree when it is in full bloom. “The mild scent of the flowers is a proven relaxant,” he said.
The Tree of Life, as he called it, stood in a discreet corner within the campus, and showed signs of damage. “The bark of the tree is usually green and smooth, unlike the pale brown that you see now. It is a rare specimen and needs to be preserved,” he said.
The mad jumble of trees in the concrete jungle have adapted to local conditions and infamous urban challenges of negotiating with lack of space, rising vertically instead of charting its usual course, and drawing calcium from the buildings around it, he said.
“Hammering nails into the tree disrupts the flow of water to the branches. Cementing around its circumference is illegal and the heat from mounting lights on trees kills microbes, and discourages birds from building nests. But most people do not know these things,” he said.
