The Not-So-Common Trees - Dhudi
Preserves milk
Known
by the same name in Tamil as well as Hindi, what we are here talking of is
Wrightia tinctoria and not Holarrhena antidyseutrica, for the former is an urban
Chennaivasi while the latter is sighted in the suburbs, with a relatively
undisturbed vegetation.
However, the identical naming
of the two by the locals, dhudi in Hindi and vepali in Tamil, is not altogether
unjustified for adding a drop of the sap from either of the two would preserve
milk against curdling, without spoiling its taste.
Even
so, the botanist is a bit fastidious in such matters, insisting upon identifying
each as a distinct species, each in its own right. After all, the botanist has a
keen and trained observant eye, which you don't expect where a layman is
concerned.
The Holarrhena has longer and
greener leaves: Its seeds have their air-filled hairs at the apex, while the
leaves of Wrightia are not as large or as green with the tuft of air filled
hairs at the base of the seed. A closer examination would surely show more
differences, but are of no concern to us here, for I am not giving a lesson in
botany to my readers.
The
dhudi (as the name applies to Wrightia tinctoria) is a small, deciduous tree
with white flowers. But an outstanding characteristic feature which helps us to
identify the tree is the organisation of its paired long follicles, joined at
their tips. As the fruit dehisces along only one of its seams, long seeds with
an attenuated apex and a cluster of air-filled hairs at their bases are
released. Even so, they are not as well-dispersed by air as they should have
been, because these hairs are deciduous, falling off rather early after release
from the fruit. The tree is covered by a pale, smooth bark. The wood is white,
grained and amenable for carving.
Medium-sized, lanceolate leaves
oppositely placed, which on piercing would cause a flow of milky latex flow out,
characterise the vegetative phase of the tree. A blue dye is made from the
leaves. Munched, they relieve toothache.
The bark and seeds are usefully
employed in containing indigestion, dyspepsia, flatulence and diarrhoea.
I see it growing in some parts
of Anna Nagar, as also in the campus of Pachaiyappa's College.
