Tree Tale | Nile Tulip | English
Channel: Arvind Gupta
Date: 2015-11-05

Common Name of this tree is Nile Tulip and its origin is in East Africa. The tree is scientifically known as Markhamia lutea. The genus was named after Sir Clement Markham – who introduced the quinine yielding Cinchona (malaria drug) to India. The specific name “lutea” is Latin for golden yellow.

This tree grows tall; and does not branch very much. The tubular yellow flowers are borne in clusters and are very attractive. 
After the flowering season one can see long pods hanging on the trees. As the pods turn brown, they become twisted. These pods, measuring in excess of a foot and half in length, remain on the tree for a long time.

The tree is a source of firewood and produces good charcoal. The termite resistant wood is used for making furniture and hand tools.

This work is supported by IUCAA (www.iucaa.ernet.in) and TATA Trust (www.tata.com/aboutus/sub_index/Tata-trusts)

Credits:,Ashok Rupner, Manish Jain, Pradnya Pujari, Shivaji Mane, Jyoti Hiremath, Arvind Gupta, Vidula Mhaiskar TATA Trust: Education is one of the key focus areas for Tata Trusts, aiming towards enabling access of quality education to the underprivileged population in India. To facilitate quality in teaching and learning of Science education through workshops, capacity building and resource creation, Tata Trusts have been supporting Muktangan Vigyan Shodhika (MVS), IUCAA's Children’s Science Centre, since inception. To know more about other initiatives of Tata Trusts, please visit www.tatatrusts.org