Plants sustain all of life as they produce organic matter out of water, carbon dioxide, minerals and light. It would be difficult to tell what the original vegetation looked like in Sigur Nature Trust as the place has been highly modified by people and livestock.
At present, the vegetation is a thorn jungle (the word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala, meaning uncultivated land). The Sanskrit word refers to dry land, not to the Tarzan-like rainforest with trees not higher than 5-10 m. Thorny trees (Capparis and Ziziphus) are abundant because intensive cattle grazing has removed other more palatable species. The herbaceous stratum is composed small or annual grasses and invaded by Opuntia, a cactus weed from the arid parts of North and Central America. Along the rivers, giant bamboos, mango trees and ficus provide abundant food during the dry season.
We will make a catalog of plants as we develop the website.
We will start with arguably one of the most beautiful trees we have, the Flame of the Forest (Butea monosperma (Lamk.) Taub.), a Faboideae, or legume. Not only is it beautiful, it is also useful as it enriches the soil with nitrogen.
Butea monosperma
It flowers in February – March, the flower is several centimeters long
Flower
