BENGALURU: The horticulture department recently spent Rs 2.5 lakh to procure and plant the Adinosinia pigitera species, which was once a part of Lalbagh, but is not there any more.
This is one of the 290 tree species that have vanished from Lalbagh, out of the total 1,856 species that it housed in the 1980s, when the first survey was done.
In the last four years, the horticulture department has spent up to Rs 14 lakh to get tree species and make them a part of the 240-acre lung space of Lalbagh. The department, with the help of Foundation of Revialisation of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT), has undertaken a detailed study to know how many trees species it has and the taxonomy of each species.
M Jagadeesh, Joint Director, Lalbagh, Horticulture Department, told CE that after the first survey of tree species in the garden, called Plant Wealth of Lalbagh, was carried out, an informal survey was done in 2010, which found that 290 species had vanished.
“In the last four years, 190 species have been introduced. For the remaining 100, search and discussion with researchers, taxonomists, experts, universities, nurseries and citizens across the globe is happening. The department has set aside Rs 20 lakh to procure plant wealth. In two instances, we spent Rs 14 lakh for Ficus toperia and Rs 5 lakh for 250-year-old Olivia toperia tree species,” Jagadeesh said.
Once the trees are surveyed and documented, each tree will be given a unique QR code, which can be scanned by visitors to know the detail of each. Taxonomists from FRLHT started the exercise to survey the trees six months back. The horticulture department is leaving no stone unturned to procure unique endemic species, like different strands of Bio Bob, yellow Butea monosperma (yellow flame of forest), Dillenia indica (elephant apple) and camphor trees.