Native trees are those that are found in India before recorded history. In the last three thousand years of human activity, many species of plants and animals have been brought by humans into India. These exotic species, while often useful to human activities, are best kept separate from the wild forests and natural vegetation.
Native trees are essential for wildlife habitat and a healthy environment. Sometimes, native trees can be found in urban areas, but they presumably are of higher value to local biodiversity than the exotic trees.
Some of the native trees marked with this tag may actually be exotic trees, but the record of their arrival into India is lost in time. These trees, now naturalised and presumed to be of local origin, are often difficult to determine.
Also, just because a tree is native to India does not mean it is a native to the region it was encountered. For example, the teak forests of tropical southern India are a native forest type. While a teak tree found in the botanical gardens in Delhi may be tagged with this attribute, it is actually an exotic tree far from its home forests.
