Trees of Rani Baug Part 1

Entrance Gate of Rani Baug( Photo courtesy - Google images)

Jijamata Udyaan formerly called Rani chi Bagh (meaning Queen's Gardens) after the original British name Victoria Gardens, and now also known as Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, is a zoo and garden located at Byculla, in the heart of Mumbai, India. It was laid out in 1861 and is one of the oldest zoos in India. Though known as a zoo, it provides a home to several age-olded indigenous and rare tree varieties, of which would like to describe few....

As you enter from the main gate, you are welcomed by these two giant trees called Baobab, originally from South Africa these trees were brought to India more than 100 years back. Many experts still wonder about its existence after so many years. An interesting feature of the tree is that it appears like planted upside down...In Africa people beileve that in anger God threw it upside down , so its morphology is like that. 

Most often people say that this trees take's over the entire land as the trunk grows bigger and bigger in width. Native members have started using these large trunks into houses by carving out the standing tree from core

Resaurant inside Baobab Tree( Photo courtesy - google images)

Just adjacent to Adansonia is Brownnia tree, during my research of this particular species I came across a interesting fact about this tree that its cluster of young leaves resembles a handkerchief and hence called handkerchief tree.

As we walked ahead we came across this tiny flowers scattered around the ground resembling a green carpet with a mild pleasant fragrance. To see whom these flowers belong, we saw up and all that we noticed were the beautiful raceme inflorescence. The tree was laden with flowers and fruits as well. Fruit is a five compartmentent capsule of the the guest tree. Scientifically known as klienhovia hospitata. K.hospitata is the only species that belongs to this genera. Such species are said as monotypic species.

We were still in the glory of Kleinhovia and another blue flowering tree caught our attention. The tree is evergreen with greenish peeling bark. It's a slow growing variety having very strong wood and yield good quality gum...it's Guaiacum officinale the gum tree...

Fruit of Guest Tree ( Photo courtesy - Prathamesh Desai)

Other flowering species that kept us glorifying were Barringtonia's, Noni tree, Cassia javanica, Couropita guaenensis, Cassia fistula var javanica, flowers of Clerodendrum, Gulmohor, and huge canopies of rain forest tree and copper coloured copperpod trees and not to forget the Krishna's buttercup tree.There is more to write about these century old botanical garden cum zoo and share all my great joyous memories. 

Gum Tree ( Photo courtesy - Prathamesh Desai)

Cassia javanica ( Photo courtesy - Prathamesh Desai)

Couropita guanensis ( Photo courtesy - Prathamesh Desai)

Ficus bengalensis var. Krishnae ( Photo courtesy - Prathamesh Desai)

Stay updated for Part 2 of these journey through Rani Baugh in my next blog.

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