Title Pakistan Forest Digest Issue 01- A4 - Pakistan Research Group

SDPISustainable Development Policy InstituteChapter 07MiscellaneousSpringtime‘kachnar’ augments beauty of twin cityThe News Rawalpindi/Islamabad, April 02, 2010By Ishrat HayattRawalpindi: - These days the‘kachnar’ tree is in full bloom allover the sister cities and what apretty sight it is, but you mighthave missed it because there aremany trees in bloom these days,with flowers in similar huescatching the eye. But remember,the ‘Kachnar’ is recognizablebecause it towers above other treesgrowing by its side.‘Kachnar’ is the local name for avariety of medium size deciduoustrees of the Bauhinieae plantfamily and its natural habitat isfrom Burma across thesubcontinent almost up toAfghanistan. It is an ornamentaltree with drooping branches and inspring it produces a rich harvest ofpink/mauve and white blossomsthereare also pure white‘Kachnar’-which, if examinedfrom up close, you will see theyresemble orchids-in fact it issometimes called the ‘Orchid tree.’While orchids are considered‘exotic’ these flowers are not asappreciated as much as theyshould be because they are‘common.’ (Does this soundfamiliar in context to other suchanomalies of how we perceivethings around us?) Anyway, theseplants are easily recognized bytheir leaves, each constituting oftwo identical halves, folded in themiddle and when opened theyassume a kind of heart shapedlook. It bears pod like fruit duringearly summer and these becomesred on ripening by the beginningof autumn, when seed can becollected for planting. The‘kachnar’ tree has nearly half aninch thick bark, dark brown incolor with vertical cracks. Whengiven a cut it dispels a gum havinglimited medicinal value, rich inproteins, but it has not beenexploited commercially.And did I say ‘ornamental?’ yes,but the ‘Kachnar’ is actually avery useful tree to have around.Besides its beautiful floweringperiod when no leaves are visible,the young flower buds can bepicked for a variety of tasty fooditems by serving as a vegetable onits own or with meat and mince,while some people also makepickles from the buds. Try it outbut don’t forget to lightly fry themfirst so they do not become soggyand break up.Other information available saysthe leaves from a very potentfodder after being chopped,economically and systematicallyfor milch cattle. ‘Kachnar’ wood isred in colour, with red and orblack streaks near the core and isfairly hard in texture so it isgenerally used for agriculturalimplements, in addition tofirewood. The ‘Kachnar’ is a goodspecies for planting in open wastesas well as around agricultural land,so people interested in coveringtheir fallow land, having richfodder for their dairy cattle;beautifying their drive-ways andlandscape or otherwise enrichingthe environment, should grow thisspecies.Photo by Naveed Akram.Pakistan Forest Digest Vol. 1, No. 1, April – June, 2010