Walking down the lazy streets, full of people too busy to look up at the sky or trees, a strong heady fragrance made me stop on my way. With every breadth I took the fragrance wrapped around me and made me instinctively look up. The moment I turned my head up to look at what was the source of this beautiful smell, I felt tiny little white flowers fall on top of me. It felt like some scene from a movie. You walk down and flowers shower on you. Taking a deep breath in I saw above my head was a tree, glowing with the bloom of white flowers and below my feet was a carpet of white and all around was the fragrance wrapping me with delight. All this in the middle of the same old road I take to go back home. All this in the jungle of concrete.
A quest soon started to find out which is this tree. I was wondering how on earth am I going to find out about a tree with my sentimental descriptions. As luck would have it, the tree I was searching for was right outside my house, tall and strong as if waiting since ages for me to cast a look at it. Only the buds of the flower was visible so I wasn't really sure if it was the same tree that had captured my heart. Some days later the whole tree was in full bloom and the beautiful fragrance filled my room. This was enough a proof that it was the same tree. I knew that the fruits of this tree were like long beans as I had observed that earlier. Now with the description of fruits the search became easier and arrived at a blog that described my tree perfectly well.
http://riverineparks.blogspot.in/2012/04/alstonia-scholaris.html
A few Details
This beautiful tree is named Devil's tree or Shaitan ka Jhad as tribals of Western ghats believed that devils lived there and so were reluctant to pass underneath. As suggested by one of my Sirs, this was a brilliant way to save the tree from being cut..
It is also called blackboard tree as its timber was traditionally used to make slates and compass boxes for school children. The name Scholaris also comes from here. Thus its Botanical name is Alstonia Scholaris. Alstonia to commemorate a well known Botanist Prof. C. Alston of Edinburgh.
I don't know if devils really stay here or not, but I am truly haunted by its fragrance of this Devil's tree.
http://riverineparks.blogspot.in/2012/04/alstonia-scholaris.html
A few Details
This beautiful tree is named Devil's tree or Shaitan ka Jhad as tribals of Western ghats believed that devils lived there and so were reluctant to pass underneath. As suggested by one of my Sirs, this was a brilliant way to save the tree from being cut..
It is also called blackboard tree as its timber was traditionally used to make slates and compass boxes for school children. The name Scholaris also comes from here. Thus its Botanical name is Alstonia Scholaris. Alstonia to commemorate a well known Botanist Prof. C. Alston of Edinburgh.
In Sanskrit It is called the Saptaparna which literally means that which has seven leaves in a whorl.
I don't know if devils really stay here or not, but I am truly haunted by its fragrance of this Devil's tree.
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