... it may happen that a name popular for a plant in one region could be not so in another. In context of regions, a popular name of one plant could be altogether shared by another plant.
Parijat is one such example. In most of India, *Nyctanthes arbor-tristris* is well known as Parijat, it could be so even in the area where the baobab *Adansonia digitata* OR the Indian coral tree, *Erythrina indica* (syn. of *Erythrina variegata*) is / are known by the same name. For a good justification that baobab indeed is known by the name somewhere in India, it is seen featured on Indian postal stamp ... reference: http://www.travelindia-guide.com/indian-stamps/collection/1997.php Link to one of earlier discussions on Parijat ... https://groups.google.com/d/topic/indiantreepix/jLrfASAk0B4/discussion Interestingly, there is no entry found for parijata(ka) as a name for * Nyctanthes* in some of very well-known Sanskrit dictionaries like: • Monier-Williams Dictionary ... http://www.sanskrita.org/wiki/index.php/Special:Search?search=Nyctanthes&go=Go • Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte's The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary ... http://tinyurl.com/4m4fcrx Regards. Dinesh On Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 11:04 AM, Ulhas <[email protected]> wrote: > Baobab or Gorakhchich is also known as Monkey-bread tree or Upside > down tree (when leafless it appears as if the roots are up in the > sky!). Botanically it is Adansonia digitata. It is endemic in > Tropical Africa and supposed to have been introduced in western India > from Africa by Arabian traders. This is an ecologically important > tree and there is a beautiful film titled Baobab which shows the life > around this tree all around the day and night. > > This is not Parijat. Parijat of Prajakt is Nyctanthes arbor-tristris, > a very popular / fragrant garden plant - small tree / big shrub. The > scented pretty small flowers with white petals and orange tube bloom > in the evening and fall in the early morning, perfect for the > believers to collect and use for pooja. The plant supposed to have > emerged during the churning of the ocean by devas and danavas. The > origin is recorded as East India and Sumatra, however the plant is not > really seen in wilderness but mostly in gardens and plantations. The > leaves are rough and used like sand paper to polish wood. > > Ulhas > > > On Feb 27, 11:00 pm, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> wrote: > > At some places, it was planted by britishers. Native of African > continent. > > Interestingly this is not native but still finds mention in the vedas > > as Parijat tree. > > Wild species of this have been reported from India. > > Pankaj > > > > >
