Unusual Canopies
A tree’s canopy is the shape its branches and leaves make together. Look up at these: tiers, weeping curtains, and umbrellas of leaves.
Madagascar Almond
Terminalia mantaly
Its branches grow out flat in neat tiers, one above another, each ending in a rosette of small leaves, so the tree looks like a stack of umbrellas. It is a relative of barro and harro.
Weeping Fig
स्वामीको रूख
Ficus benjamina
Its thin branches arch over and droop at the tips, so the whole tree hangs like a leafy curtain. The glossy leaves end in pointed “drip tips” that shed rainwater quickly. It is the official tree of Bangkok.
Jacaranda
नीलमोहर
Jacaranda mimosifolia
A jacaranda spreads into a wide, umbrella-shaped crown of feathery leaves, and in spring the whole crown turns purple with flowers. Its seeds ripen in flat, woody pods.
Japanese Pagoda Tree
Styphnolobium japonicum
It grows a broad, rounded crown of feathery leaves, which is why it was planted around temples for shade. Despite its name, it comes from China. It is in the pea family, with pods like strings of beads.
More in Looks, Scents, and Surprises
The garden is alive and changes through the year. Some plants flower, fruit, or rest only in certain seasons, so what you see depends on when you visit.
See them for yourself
Every plant here grows on our campus in Bhaktapur. Walk the garden on your visit.
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