Learning About Trees
Why learn about trees? For me, a tree is like a window into the working of nature, and by observing it I get insights into many of her secrets. For example, I can find out about the tree's life as well as various life-forms that depend on it: birds and bees, insects and caterpillars, butterflies and worms, lizards and squirrels. First, though, I must know what kind of tree it is.
But this can be hard. When in a place filled with trees – such as in a park, a forest or a village grove – we often become confused and overwhelmed when trying to identify them. They start looking alike and so we quickly give up on learning about them.
Here is the interesting thing. While the diversity of Bangladeshi flora is indeed rich, our tree species are very unevenly distributed. My educated guess is that just a handful of tree species constitute 90% of our trees. So the first step to learning and identifying our trees is to recognize two or three dozen common species.
What are they? It is easiest to think of them in terms of their function.
For beauty we plant trees like krishnachura, sonalu, shimul, kodom, babla, mandaar, palash, arjun, shishoo and jarul. These trees can often be seen along roads and highways, inside parks, and around village homes. Many of them bring us colourful blooms in spring.
Among trees planted for hardwood the most common are acacia mangium, mahogany, teak, several other varieties of acacia and, to a lesser extent, eucalyptus. Note that most of these are non-native species carrying their original name with them. So if you see a plot in a village with the same type of tree it is probably one of these species.
Then, of course, are the trees we plant for food. Most people recognize jackfruit, mango, lychee, jaam, coconut and supari trees. But how about sofeda, golapjaam, kamranga, amloki, bohera or koromcha? They are easy to remember once someone points one out for you. For example, the leaves of sofeda radiate out like fingers, the golapjaam's blossoms resemble fireworks.
Let us not forget those majestic trees that take a long time to grow but bring much beauty and grace into our lives. Among these are banyan, peepul, rain-tree and the raj-koroi. These trees appear to have no utilitarian purpose, but they play important roles in our ecosystem. For example, their roots prevent land erosion and their flowers and fruits feed countless birds and insects.
When I enter one of our national forests, I am immediately struck by the trees that I do not recognize. Even trees that I see in villages, such as chhatim, look different when they are so much older and larger. In addition, the forest species such as chapalish, wild jaam, ludh, and hawal look exotic and magnificent.
Once you learn to identify the tree species, you can quickly look up more information on it. How does it propagate? When does it flower? What lives in its leaves, branches and trunk? Is the wood useful? If you return to the tree over and over again, with some patient study and observation you will find nature opening up to you.
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