Dear all, It is hard to choose where to start for there is not really a beginning and no end in sight. Chinese people have a saying "Every long journey starts with a tiny step". So here is first what has been the big revelation for me. Hidden behind some links in one of Dinesh's postings was what some of you had proposed / wished for and that I was also waiting for. The initial building of an amazing database called "Names of Plants in India". It does not display the basic info for such a site so a review cannot yet be written about it. I have written one nevertheless that will appear online when I have all the details. It is however fully operational and can be used. I warmly invite you to consult it ... and yes it has got photos! The URL is < https://sites.google.com/site/indiannamesofplants/ >.
Now just a couple of entries calling for further feedback from you all. We all know that the name "Mosambi" is used for other taxa (plants). We will come back to it when we treat these species. I believe the following to be the original vernacular. *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck 'Mosambi' BENGALI : মোসাম্বি (Mōsāmbi). ENGLISH : Mosambi orange, Mosambique orange. HINDI : मौसम्बी Mausambee, मोसम्बी Mōsambī , मोसाम्बी Mōsāmbī, मोज़ाम्बि Mōzāmbi KANNADA : ಮೊಸಂಬಿ ಹಣ್ಣು Mosambi hannu ? MARATHI : मोसंबी Mosambi. TAMIL : சாத்துக்குடி Cāttukkuṭi ? TELUGU : బత్తాయి పండు Battāyi paṇḍu. "Fruit medium-large, slightly oblate to globose or broadly obovoid; areolar ring regularly shallow; moderately seedy. Color light yellow to pale orange at maturity. Rind medium-thick; surface moderately to roughly pebbled, and faintly striped with narrow, longitudinal grooves and ridges. Flesh color straw-yellow; somewhat firm, juicy; flavor insipid because of very low acidity. Early in maturity. This very distinctive variety is of unknown origin, but the name, of which there are numerous spellings, suggests that it was taken from Mozambique, East Africa, to India, presumably by the Portuguese. The brown color of the chalazal spot indicates that it does not belong to the sugar orange group, as some have assumed, but that it is a low acid orange, the acidity of which is further reduced by the Indian climate and the rough lemon rootstock on which it is grown. Mosambi is highly popular in central India and is probably the most important orange variety of that country. According to Gandhi (1956), it is grown principally in the Bombay Deccan where total plantings were reported to be about 20,000 acres."R. W. Hodgson in Chapter 4 of Horticultutal Varieties of Citrus. What we need now is validation of those names - spelling... and a photo or two, and some clarification. If this is the Batavian orange, Cattukkuti orange, Loose-jacket orange, Sylhet orange, can it be బత్తాయి Battāyi, బత్తాయి నరింమ్జాపండు (Battāyi narimmjāpaṇḍu) Battāyi nāriṃzapaṇḍu ? We know it is not sweet but is it bitter at all ? could it be called a mandarine ? *Citrus* × *sinensis *(L.) Osbeck 'Malta' ENGLISH : Malta orange. HINDI : माल्टा Malta (mālṭā). -> correct spelling ? It may be difficult to find all these names in dictionaries but there is enough expertise in the group to work out what is correct and to validate it. Thanks
