HERITAGE TREES.

The African Baobab or the Adansonia digitata is a gigantic tree which had its roots during
the Moghul regime in India. Its height and girth make it unique and perhaps has no match to
any other species of natural vegetation on earth.
When fully grown, its gigantic buttressed trunk stretches up to 10 metres in diameter
which abruptly ends in the branches that bear digitate leaves. The pendent rotatable white
flowers resemble features of Silk Cotton.

V. SUNDARARAJU THE GIGANTIC TREE OF ADANSONIA DIGITATA-AFRICAN BAOBAB

It is believed that the African Baobab was brought to India by the Arab traders and
Black Africans who were part of the then Moghul Army.
The dry external surface belies the enormous amount of water stored in its trunk and
inner bark.
This water can be tapped by drilling through the trunk which will usually yield a few
thousand litres of water, Divisional Forest Officer (Social Forestry Division), Sivaganga, V.
Sundararaju, says.
A typical Baobab has been located by the Forest Officials with the help of Mr.
Ramasubramanya Rajah alias Bala in the Chinmaya Vidyalaya Higher Secondary School in
Rajapalayam. It has the reputation of being one of the longest living trees (6000 years) in the
world that runs to 83.3 feet in height and 57.3 feet in girth.
Also known as Monkey Bread Tree, its fruits hang from a thick stalk which is 20 to
30 cm long. The hard-shelled fruit is rich in vitamin-C and its pulp is used for making health
drinks. The Arabs sensed medicinal value in the Baobab and took it along with them while on
trade tours to India and South-East Asia.
In the African countries, the tree is considered economically important since the
locals make juice out of the fruits and ropes/bags from the strong high quality fibre of the
bark. The pulp of Baobab fruits has a taste like the cream of tartar and is used to treat fever,
dysentery and stomach ailments in some parts of Asia.
While a mixture of the pulp and bark is considered a cure for malaria in Africa, the
dried leaves are credited with promoting perspiration and preventing kidney disorders. These
are only a few medicinal applications of the Baobab, environmentalists say.
The name Adansonia commemorated the 19th Century French Botanist Andanson,
while Digitata refers to the shape of the leaf.
Large trees of this variety have also been spotted in Chennai and Tuticorin.
The above news item was published in The Hindu during 2003.
While working in Sivaganga, our field staff told me that a rare tree called Perilla
maram was found near Manamadurai. One day when some field inspection was taken up in
Manamadurai Forest Range, I was taken about two kilometres away to a place called
Vediyarendhal where the tree was lying on the ground due to some natural disaster. Instead of
its normal vertical position since the tree was found fallen on the ground, initially it was
difficult to identify the tree. But by seeing the digitate leaves immediately it could be
identified as Anai Pulia maram or Pontham puli, the African Baobab.

V. SUNDARARAJU THE TREE SURVIVES THOUGH AFFECTED BY NATURAL DISASTER

 V. SUNDARARAJU HOARDING ERECTED NEAR BAOBAB TREE IN MANAMADURAI
Probably I was the very first person to identify the tree. Fortunately there was an idol
of Ayyanar and as a mark of respect to the deity and because of the God-fearing nature of
the local people, the tree was not disturbed. Otherwise having fallen on the ground, long back
the tree would have become a victim for the axe of the local public.
Our staff felt very much inspired and motivated when I explained about the tree and its
interesting characters. As Forest Officials, we felt that it was our foremost and important duty
to protect that rare tree. In order to create awareness about that tree, a hoarding was prepared
and erected near the tree.

In Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu State at Esanthimangalam village a

Terminalia arjuna (Neer Marudhu in Tamil) tree estimated to be more than 500 years has
been named after the ancient Tamil Scholar Tholkappiar and was dedicated to the State on
16.7.2010 by the District Collector Mr. Rajendra Ratnoo in a function organized by the
District Forest Officer, Kanyakumari to create awareness among the people.
This is a Unique Honour both to the oldest tree and also to the ancient Tamil Poet
Tholkappiar who was supposedly born in this district.
 V. K. SUBRAMANYAM

COLLECTOR, DFO & OTHER VIPS IN FRONT OF THE HERITAGE TREE

This is the biggest tree identified outside the Reserved Forest areas in Kanyakumari
district with a girth of 26 meters and height of 46 meters.
This is not only a Heritage Tree but also acts as a Living Monument.
Terminalia arjuna is growing naturally along the NagercoilBalamore road on the
bank of a canal near Esanthimangalam village which is located about eight kilometers from
Nagercoil.
 V. K. SUBRAMANYAM

DFO PRESENTS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE TREE TO THE COLLECTOR

The wood is used for making furniture, agricultural implements, carts, etc. by local
people. The tree has got very good medicinal value. The bark of the tree is used for treatment
of cardiac disease, tuberculosis, asthma, skin disease, liver enlargement, etc. the leaves are
used for curing stomach ache, etc.
The above article sent to The Indian Forester by me as the DFO, Kanyakumari
district was published in December, 2010 issue of the journal.
Kodaikanal has many ancient monuments and structures to speak of its glorious past.
Now a grand old tree has been identified to add value to its natural heritage. This is the 500
year old Eugenia arnottiana or Syzygium arnottianum (Malai Naval, Naval, Nagay in Tamil)
found in Bombay Shola RF of Kodaikanal Forest Division. This tree is found in shola forests
of Nilgiris, Anamalais, Palnis and Travancore above 1219 meters. This is a dominant shola
tree. It may be considered the most representative shola species of the Upper Palnis. This is a
densely foliaceous evergreen tree with round crown and new foliage red in colour. The
flowers are cream in colour during March to May and dark purple fruits ripen between July
and August.
 V. SUNDARARAJU

500 YEAR OLD MALAINAVAL (EUGENIA ARNOTTIANA)

The girth of the tree at breast height is 15.2 meters with buttresses and the height is 21
meters. Because of its ancientness, the tree has become a tourist attraction. The entire
Bombay Shola RF is fenced and the grand old tree is treated as a monument by Forest
Department. This is considered as a Heritage Tree of Kodaikanal.

Box 26

TRIBAL CULTURE AND TREE GUARDING: There are different tribal communities such as Todas,
Kurumbas and Kotas in Nilgiris. Out of these, the Toda people are a small pastoral community who live here.

Generally all the tribes have great respect for nature. The Todas have much more veneration and affection towards

nature especially the trees. The following ceremony followed by them proves their reverence for trees.

When a woman becomes pregnant, she has to perform a bow and arrow ceremony during the seventh month of her
pregnancy. She and her husband go to the shola forest near the mand (a place where Todas live), cut a triangular
niche in a Malai naval (Eugenia arnottiana) tree and place a lighted lamp in it. The couple makes a bow of Malai
avarai (Sophora glauca) wood and fit it with an arrow made up of grass (Andropogon schaenanthus). The couple
returns to the tree and after paying respect to each other and to their relations, the husband hands over the bow to
his wife symbolizing his commitment to protect the child to be born. She holds it until the light goes out. They
cook food, eat with all their relations and stay that night in the shola forest. Only during the first pregnancy, this
ceremony is performed. (Source: Madras District Gazetteers, The Nilgiris by W. Francis - 1908).

The dark purple juice of the fruit of this tree is used by Toda women for painting beauty spots on their faces.

Vattakanal Conservation Trust formed by Londoners Robert W. Stewart and Tanya

Balcar has been doing a wonderful job of filling the gaps in shola forests of Kodaikanal with
well established and taller saplings of shola species. It is really heartening to see that many of
such saplings planted here have established well.
 In addition to two nurseries formed to raise shola saplings, they have three more green
houses for raising rare, endangered and threatened species and ornamental exotics. More than
100 varieties of cacti have been assembled here. Rare carnivorous plant species of Nepenthes
khasiana (Pitcher plant) also find place in one such green house. V. SUNDARARAJU

TANYA BALCAR & ROBERT W. STEWART IN A GREEN HOUSE

V. SUNDARARAJU NEPENTHES KHASIANA (PITCHER PLANT)

Indian Pitcher Plant is a carnivorous plant endemic to the Khasi hills of Meghalaya.
The species is critically endangered. The flowers have the shape of long vessel with a lid
on top. When any insect goes inside, the lid closes and the insect is finally digested.
V.Sundararaju, Former IFS Officer, SOFCON, Tamil Nadu, India.
Mail id: sundarifs.raju@gmail.com.
www.sofcon.org.
Mobile: 9443170366.