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Branching Structure

Kalpataru 1-3

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Bodhi Leaf Kalpataru 1-3

These three baobabs at the entrance to Doranda college were incorrectly reported to be rare members of the Kalpavrish, of which only nine exist India. Fortunately, there are many more baobabs than just nine.


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IIT Madras Ambassador

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Bodhi Leaf IIT Madras Ambassador

One of the large banyans hiding in the woods of the Indian Institute of Technology, this tree has a bench for contemplation, branches to monkey in, and monkeys in the branches contemplating you.


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Heliodorus Nail

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Bodhi Leaf Heliodorus Nail

Near an ancient monument to a Greek ambassador in 140 BC, this is one of several old tamarind trees, filled with iron rings and nails which are used by local villagers to help exorcise evil demons.


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The Mori Pine

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Bodhi Leaf The Mori Pine

At a sandy river bank along the Tons River, this champion sized pine is now in pieces after it succumbed to fungal decay


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The Kanasar Giant

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Bodhi Leaf The Kanasar Giant

One of the largest and most famous cedar trees can be found at the Kanasar Grove north of Chakrata; this is the largest individual, signed as 6.35 m in girth


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Sipur Tower

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Bodhi Leaf Sipur Tower

This is the largest tree at the Sipur sacred Deodar Cedar grove below Mashobra; with four connected trunks it is a striking and massive monarch of the forest


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Triund Oak

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Bodhi Leaf Triund Oak

Trekkers who make it up to the dramatic crest of Triund plateau will find this old oak tree perched on the edge of the slopes.


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Bishnoi Memorial Khejri

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Bodhi Leaf Bishnoi Memorial Khejri

Three hundred and sixty three Bishnoi people sacrificed themselves to the king’s woodcutters to successfully protect this grove of trees, and in the 400 years since their devotion have inspired generations of ardent treehuggers and nature preservationists


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The Mawphlang Elder

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Bodhi Leaf The Mawphlang Elder

The namesake tree of a well-known and+Q908 ecologically critical sacred grove, this tree marks the site where the Khasi elders come to consult and make decisions.


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Ram Teak

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Bodhi Leaf Ram Teak

In a grove of impressive teak trees in the wild forests of Kanger Valley National Park, the largest tree present is named after the famous hero Rama.


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Thimmamma Marrimanu

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Bodhi Leaf Thimmamma Marrimanu

This could be considered the largest tree in the world: with its connected trunks spreading out 180 meters in diameter, it is the largest banyan and one of the superlative trees on Earth.


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The Grandmother Tree

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Bodhi Leaf The Grandmother Tree

The largest tree in Cochin and a well-known landmark to all, this grandmotherly tree has been the focal point for the Fort Cochin Tree Festival. This tree is part of the Fort Cochin Tree Trail


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The Weathervane Tree

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Bodhi Leaf The Weathervane Tree

This rectangular-based tree grew over the metal structure of an old weathervane to help sailors approach Fort Cochin, and the old metal ladder rusting inside still offers access into the treetop.This tree is part of the Fort Cochin Tree Trail.


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The World’s Rarest Tree

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Bodhi Leaf The World’s Rarest Tree

The last of its species remaining in the wild, in the shola forests of the Western Ghats. Thought to be extinct, and known previously only from a single specimen, it is being propogated by the Vattakanal Conservation Trust as a last-chance conservation. To learn more, or to contribute to their conservation initatives, visit www.vattakanalconservationtrust.org


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The Rarest Tree Ex Situ

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Bodhi Leaf The Rarest Tree Ex Situ

The Vattakanal Conservation Trust has planted this tree as part of the Vattakanal Village roadside rainforest restoration efforts- it is the progeny of one tree that is the only surviving member of its species in the wild. To learn more, or to contribute to their conservation initatives, visit www.vattakanalconservationtrust.org


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Kodai 500 Year Old Jamun

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Bodhi Leaf Kodai 500 Year Old Jamun

A gnarled old jamun tree. signposted- and futilely fenced off- is a tourist attraction near Kodai Lake. The Vattakanal Conservation Trust has identified these trees as significant elements of the last shola rainforests. To learn more, or to contribute to their conservation initatives, visit www.vattakanalconservationtrust.org


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Kannimara

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Bodhi Leaf Kannimara

The largest teak in the world is a source of pride and attraction for Parambikulam National Park, a forested valley surrounding a dammed lake.


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The Chain Tree

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Bodhi Leaf The Chain Tree

Legend has it that after a British engineer murdered his native assistant, the haunting ghost was chained to the tree.


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Accamma’s Tree at Koshy’s

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Bodhi Leaf Accamma’s Tree at Koshy’s

Prem Koshy, owner of Koshy’s cafe in downtown Bangalore,saved this Mahagony tree just out front. He successfully fought its illegal destruction and has named it in honour of a woman named Accamma, who lived beneath it for 40 years.


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Ber Sahib

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Bodhi Leaf Ber Sahib

Guru Nanak Ji meditated at this tree every day for 14 years, and here this Sikh teacher attained a connection with God.


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Ilachi Ber

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Bodhi Leaf Ilachi Ber

Under this tree, Guru Arjan used to sit under this tree and watch the digging of the sacred tank.When Mahitab Singh Mirankotia and Sukkha Singh arrived here to liberate the Harimandar from Masse Khan Ranghar, they fastened their horses to this jujube tree before entering the building.


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Dukh Bhanjani Ber

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Bodhi Leaf Dukh Bhanjani Ber

Named by Guru Ram Das, the “Eradicator of Suffering” tree is associated with the legend of Bibi Rajani whose husband was cured of leprosy by having a dip the waters of the ancient pond here.


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The Viceroy

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Bodhi Leaf The Viceroy

Behind the former Viceregal Lodge in Shimla is a grand oak tree festooned with ferns and moss, under the British rulers of India would have sat while governing the most prized territory of their extensive empire.


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Rare Tree Chinnar

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Bodhi Leaf Rare Tree Chinnar

At the main plaza of the Mall in Shimla, on the watershed divide between the Ganga and the Indus rivers, you can find this sycamore tree from Asia Minor well signposted as “Rare Tree Chinar”


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Char Chinar Island

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Bodhi Leaf Char Chinar Island

A favourite destination to visit via the Shikhara boats on Kashmir’s Dal Lake is this small garden island crowned by four large and distinct Chinar trees in the corners


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Datun Miswak Sahib

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Bodhi Leaf Datun Miswak Sahib

The oldest and largest tree in the high-altitude city of Leh is an incredible poplar that was planted by the Sikh Guru Nanak Singh during his travels.


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Kabir Vad Banyan

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Bodhi Leaf Kabir Vad Banyan

On a sand island in the Holy Narmada river, the discarded toothbrush twig of the Sage Kabir has grown into one of the world’s broadest trees.


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The Walking Mango

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Bodhi Leaf The Walking Mango

Planted by the original Parsi settlers in India, this curious tree has been on the move- it has the unique ability for its branches to take root and crawl along the ground.


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BNHS tree

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Bodhi Leaf BNHS tree

This tree is at the entrance to the Bombay Natural History Society, one of the oldest and most influential of India’s many environmental organizations.


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Ancient Nallur Tamarind

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Bodhi Leaf Ancient Nallur Tamarind

This botanical marvel, almost one thousand years old with root sprouts, lightning scars, rooting branches, and strange hollows, is likely the gnarliest, twistiest, strangest tamarind tree on the planet.


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De Gama’s Mango

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Bodhi Leaf De Gama’s Mango

This large Mango tree at Fort Angelo, named after the Portugese explorer, is unique in that it is actually two trees fused together at the base, and again at a single branch above- all three sections bear different types of fruit.


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Zodiac Trees

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Bodhi Leaf Zodiac Trees

At Nakshatra Park in Ranchi, these 24 trees planted radially represent different astrological divisions throughout the year


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The Great Banyan

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Bodhi Leaf The Great Banyan

One of the world’s largest trees, the Great Banyan of Calcutta ‘s Howrah Botanical Gardens is a famous landmark and tourist attraction.


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Auroville Matrimandir Banyan

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Bodhi Leaf Auroville Matrimandir Banyan

When Sri Aurobindo and the Mother established Auroville on what was then degraded farmlands, they chose this banyan tree as the focal point from which their reforestation and conscious-living community would spread.


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Kamakshi Ekambaram

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Bodhi Leaf Kamakshi Ekambaram

When the purportedly 3500 year old One (Ek) Mango (Ambaram) at Kanchipuram died, a new one was planted and worship continues where Kamakshi was ceremoniously married to Lord Shiva


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Vitthala Chariot Tree

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Bodhi Leaf Vitthala Chariot Tree

This wonderfully wizened tree stands just around the corner from the famous Stone Chariot at Vitthala Temple, in the surreal granitic boulder landscape of Hampi


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Elephant’s Hathion ka Baobab

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Bodhi Leaf Elephant’s Hathion ka Baobab

A most magnificent, immense baobab tree on the outskirts of Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort offers the full experience for any landmark tree: you can climb on to the branches, go inside of it’s hollow trunk, stand next to it, gawk at it, and relax under it.


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Kailashnath Neem

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Bodhi Leaf Kailashnath Neem

This big neem tree is passed by countless visitors to the ornate Kailashnath temple at Cave 16, the crown jewel in the Ellora rock-cut caves complex in Maharahstra.


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Sai Baba Neem

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Bodhi Leaf Sai Baba Neem

The renowned Shri Sai Baba, a holy man of Maharashtra, used to meditate under this neem tree which now stands in an elaborate temple complex devoted to his teachings.


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Panchavati 1-5

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Bodhi Leaf Panchavati 1-5

Ram and Sita, legendary heroes of Hindustan, once spent an evening beneath these five banyan trees, now a pilgrimage site in Nashik.


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The Colaba Rain Tree

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Bodhi Leaf The Colaba Rain Tree

A Central American Rain Tree offers a fantastic canopy in the very pulsing heart of Mumbai, shading the steps of the Modern Art musuem. Someone has spraypainted an advertisment for “Bean Bags”


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Astrologer’s Transit Tree

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Bodhi Leaf Astrologer’s Transit Tree

In the holy city of Ujjain, the centerpoint of the Hindu study of the stars, a neem tree is prominent at the Jantar Mantar solar observatory, one of five astronomical installations throughout India established by Man Singh.


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Mahakal Vriksh Triveni

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Bodhi Leaf Mahakal Vriksh Triveni

At the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, the centre of the world and the site of a Jyotirlinga, a Vriksh Triveni is prominent in one corner- a fusion of a neem, banyan and peepal tre.


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Siddhavat

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Bodhi Leaf Siddhavat

One of India’s most sacred trees, this isolated fragment stem of a once-larger banyan (Vat) marks the straight (Siddha) path.


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Chauragarh Trisul

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Bodhi Leaf Chauragarh Trisul

On the summit of the dramatic sandstone peak of Chauragarh, this spindly semal tree is surrounded by countless metal tridents brought up by devotees of Shiva


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Union Carbide Weeping Ashok

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Bodhi Leaf Union Carbide Weeping Ashok

A small Ashok tree represents the night in Bhopal on 3 December 1984, when a cloud of poisonous methylated cyanide leaked from the Union Carbide fertilizer factory and killed many thousand people living nearby.


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Mallanimli

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Bodhi Leaf Mallanimli

One of the most spectacular trees in India, a monstrously proportioned giant African Baobab standing in a field near Orccha, reputedly planted by the Maharaja Bir Singh Deo almost 500 years ago.


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Tansen’s Tree

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Bodhi Leaf Tansen’s Tree

The tomb of Tansen, a famous musician in Akhbar’s court, is marked by a now-dead jujube tree, whose leaves were said to make one’s voice sweeter and more melodious.


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Sahni ka Dadoxylon

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Bodhi Leaf Sahni ka Dadoxylon

The Birbal Sahni Paleobotanical Insitute in Lucknow is the largest collection of fossil-plant specialists anywhere in the world, and in the entrance a fossilized Dadoxylon stem stands as a reminder of the world’s long-gone forests.


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Sarnath Bodhi

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Bodhi Leaf Sarnath Bodhi

At the Deer Park in Sarnath, a descendant of the Bodhi tree commemorates the location where the Buddha taught his philosophy.


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Hanuman’s Mace

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Bodhi Leaf Hanuman’s Mace

The Hanuman’ Mace is a massive, single trunked banyan tree towering above but rarely noticed from the crowded main Dasashvamed Ghat on the Ganga River


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The Bodhi Tree

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Bodhi Leaf The Bodhi Tree

The world’s most famous pilgrim tree, this marks the location where the Buddha attained enlightenment, and is the destination for the Buddhism’s most important pilgrimage.


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Raj Saal

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Bodhi Leaf Raj Saal

There is a notable traffic hazard on the road near the village of Byasi in the lower mountain reaches of the Ganga- a strong and massive saal tree growing in the middle of the road


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Jageshwar Monarchs

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Bodhi Leaf Jageshwar Monarchs

Two immense deodar cedars- nine hundred years old and amongst the world’s largest- grow about a complex and dense cluster of Shiva temples, nestled in a cool valley in thepine lands of the Kumaon Himalaya.


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DevDar DevDar

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Bodhi Leaf DevDar DevDar

Amongst the cool cedar and pine forests of Landour, above Mussoorie, on the first ridges of the Uttarakhand Himalaya, lightning has struck a massive cedar at the Devdar Woods Hotel and triggered the growth of several large upright trunks from a single ste


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Kaliya Serpent Tree

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Bodhi Leaf Kaliya Serpent Tree

Krishna jumped from this very tree into the Yamuna River to fight, subdue, and banish to the Ocean the poisonous, 100-headed, Kaliya Black Serpent


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Hauz Khas Imli

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Bodhi Leaf Hauz Khas Imli

An old and gnarly Imli can be found above the large watertank pool, amongst the ancient Muslim university ruins and art galleries of Hauz Khas in South Delhi.


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Lodhi River Red Gum

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Bodhi Leaf Lodhi River Red Gum

At the green and spacious Lodhi Gardens in the heart of New Delhi, a huge Murray River Red Gum from the interior of Australia spreads its branches out wide.


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Four Thirty Ficus

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Bodhi Leaf Four Thirty Ficus

If you imagine Connaught Place, Delhi’s commercial hub, as a clockdial, then at 4:30 you can find this large and healthy bodhi tree, the largest remaining tree in the area.


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