Chengkurinji - tree on verge of extinction
Q. What is Chengkurinji related to?- Published on 25 May 16a. Tree species
b. A place
c. A tribe
d. A folk art
ANSWER: Tree species
- In Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) study report facing extinction are two trees with ‘Travancore’ tag: Gluta travancorica and Sizygium travancoricum .
- The former is a hardwood (local name: chengkurinji or red tree) found only at a particular elevation of the Western Ghats in Kollam district and the latter a mangrove associate found only in some pockets of Kerala, mostly the southern parts.
- The chengkurinji grows only in the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary in Kollam. The tree, used to be indiscriminately logged, is now a protected species. Though there is a United Nations programme to propagate the tree in the area, it has not met with the desired success. Among the remaining trees some are getting uprooted owing to natural causes.
- Sizygium travancoricum faces extinction because the trees were ruthlessly felled for medical applications connected with rheumatics. But the felled trees were not replaced.
