My favourite native tree -- the Honge Marra

The whole of Eagle street has a canopy of the Honge Do you have a favourite tree? Ofcourse you must----- we all do! Mine is without a doubt the Honge marra or in Latin the Millettia pinnata. It’s not a massive tree, it’s strong and supple and the best part of the tree is when it gets its coat of brand new leaves -- which is now, this very minute, in March! Plus, this is the season for its flowers which carpet the road below it. The air around is scented and so uplifting as the tree has a lot of medicinal compounds. I have learned about our native trees from one of the best-- Dr. Yellappa Reddy, former secretary, Department of Ecology and Environment, Government of Karnataka and present Chairman of the Bangalore Environment Trust, while I worked with the Deccan Herald. Ofcourse my other knowledge about flora and fauna in general, I have to thank my dad especially, who was a storehouse of knowledge. The Millettia pinnata, also known as Pongaemia pinnata, and more commonly as Honge (ಹೊಂಗೆ) is native to India, China, Japan, Australia and other Pacific islands. It is increasingly becoming common in Bangalore as the more recent tree planting efforts have put this tree at the top of the list of avenue trees in the city. Unlike trees like the Gulmohar, the branches don’t break so easily. Compared to non-native trees like Eucalyptus it is not invasive in the way it drinks up groundwater.

Another angle of the street With the onset of winter, around November, the tree loses its leaves,and can become messy on pavements. It is a daily chore for the pourakarmikas to remove them from the roads in the area. The lazier ones set them alight and the smell of burning permeates and pollutes the air. When the recent Swacch Bharat campaign caught people’s fancy, these leaves provided good photo-ops for local big shots to sweep and pose. Irritated me no end as I walked to college and watched them stand with a beautiful coconut broom under the Honge growing in the temple precincts.

The pretty pea shaped flowers By around February, the trees wear a forlorn look. It is also the time when many of the pods with seeds start falling and these seeds are used to produce a medicinal oil and it isn’t uncommon to see women picking them up and collecting them, obviously to sell. But the prettiest season for these trees is March when the leaves start sprouting and in a few days, they soon sport a dense light-green canopy. Within a month pinkish mauve flowers start appearing all over the tree and the flowers soon attract swarms of bees. The tree literally buzzes with activity with bees all over the tree. The roads, however, sport a nice thick carpet of these white flowers. Over May/June the flowers fall off leaving small green seed pods and the leaves turn a darker green which they retain till the onset of winter. The best thing about these trees, apart from the shade, is the birds. Prinias – Ashy and plain, purple sunbirds, great tits and Red-whiskered bulbuls are very common and love the tree. Being fast-growing, these Honge trees are increasingly being preferred in newer areas. Given their multiple uses and easy maintenance and the fact that they are native is itself a major plus. They definitely are insect free and quick growing.