Page:Pre-Aryan Tamil Culture.djvu/77

 Strychnos nux vomica, elumichchai, the lemon tree, ōmai, the mango, also mā, kaḍambu, Eugenia racemosa, kaḍavu, Gyrocarpus jacquini, kaḍu, the gall-nut tree, kamugu, the areca palm, karuṅgāli, the ebony, kaḷḷi, Euphorbia tirucalli, kāya, Memecylon tinctorium, kurundu, konṛai, Cassia, śandanam, or āram, sandal-wood tree, teṅgu, cocoanut tree, tēkku, teak, nāval, the jambolan tree, nelli, Indian gooseberry, palā, the jack tree, panai, palmyra, pādiri, Bignonia chelonoides, pālai, the iron-wood tree, puḷi, the tamarind tree, punnai, the Alexandrian laurel, pūvaraśu, the Portia tree, pūvandi, the soapnut tree, magiḻ, a tree of very sweet smelling flower, mādaḷai, the pomegranate, muruṅgai, Hyperanthera murunga, mūṅgil, the bamboo, vāgai, marudam, Terminalia alata, vanni, Prosopis spicigera, vilvam, Crataeva religiosa, viḷā, the wood-apple, vēṅgai, the Pterocarpes bilobus vembu, the margosa tree. The names of smaller plants, and of different kinds of leaves and flowers are so numerous that it is not possible to catalogue them or even to mention the more familiar varieties. The unblown flower was called arumbu, the parts of flowers, idaḻ; pūndēn; young trees nāgu; fruiting trees, paliṇam, trees with heart-wood inside, āṇmaran, with heart-wood outside, peṇmaram, branch, groups of trees without heart-wood, ali, veḷiṛu, ; the synonyms of the word, tree, are very considerable in number. I will content myself with noting a few poetic images which show how keen was the observation of nature by the ancient Tamils:—

'The gourd (pīrkku, ) with round, white flowers grows along with the thin creeper muśuṇḍai, on shrubs.'

'The hill country has bamboos which wave to and fro and its clear clouds spread the dew amidst the peacocks whose expanded tails shine like the sapphire.

'The forest land possesses the expanding jasmine, taḷavu, the broad November flower, tōnṟi, the mullai with the petals opened, the tēru, (clarifying-nut tree) which drops its flowers, the konṛai, Cassia, whose flowers are like gold, the kāya, whose flowers are like sapphire.'

'The kuravam, has flowered; the cold weather is gone; in the beautiful spring, in the river, a slender stream is running; the wide river with straight stretches of sand has its banks adorned with many