On Sunday, greens in the city met a long-time resident of the city – a rare ‘Abraham jamun tree’ (called njaaval in Malayalam) right at the entrance of Government Ayurveda College, opposite Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan. Tree Walk, a group of greens in the city, conducted a walk to learn more about the tree and its story.
Anitha Sharma, coordinator of the Tree Walk, says concerned citizens had told her that in view of the road work in the city, many such grand old trees were in danger of being chopped down. “There was another tree of the same variety on the premises of a sacred groove (kavu) in Varkala but is missing now. So, we have to make sure that this does not meet the same fate,” says Anitha.
ES Santhosh Kumar, scientist at Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical G Research Institute (TBGRI), Palode, delved into the roots of the tree and its family and explained why it is called the ‘Abraham jamun tree’.
As a mark of homage, the tree has been named after the founder director of the TBGRI, A Abraham. Explains Dr. Santhosh, “It is the only one left and is critically endangered. It is imperative that we save this variety. Under Green Kerala Initiative, a scheme of the TBGRI, we are trying to save such species by conserving and propagating trees that are endemic to the Western Ghats or are on the endangered list. We have included this species in the list and now we have about 200 saplings of the ‘Abraham jamun’ tree.”
Anitha says that although TBGRI had studied this tree in 2021, they wanted to keep it confidential to learn more about it. “Last week, we were informed that it was confirmed that it was indeed a rare resident and that we needed to highlight it to protect it from the axe,” she adds.
Anitha hopes to take it up with officials concerned to ensure that the tree is conserved.
