Flora of Bangladesh

Cha or Tea  ( camellia sinensis , family: theaceae)   is a one of the most cash crops in Bangladesh. It is a bushy shrub or small tree with profuse branches. A kind of energetic and tasty drink is prepared from its young leaves and it is one of the most popular hot drinks of the world.  In its natural habitat it can get a height of 3-4 m. For the purpose of collection of young leaves it is kept at a height of 1-2 meters by pruning. East Asia is the original home of the plant. The drink is so popular that nowadays it is cultivated throughout the tropical or subtropical world. Leaves are dark green, 3-14 cm long, pale beneath, leathery, ovate, edge serrated.  Flowers are whitish, sweet-scented. Petals 4 and arranged in several layers, cluster of yellow-colored stamens in the middle of flower. Flower blooms in late autumn (November-December). The fruit is almost round. Propagation of the plant is caused by cutting and seed. Its a lon...

Kamranga or   Carambola   (A verrhoa carambola , family: Oxalidaceae) is a small tree with drooping branches and rounded canopy. Although the tree is bushy but can attain a height of 5-12 m. It is native to South and Southeast Asia.   Common names: Kamranga, Carambola, Starfruit. Flowers are small, attractive, petals 5, 6 mm wide, purple in color, borne on the ends of the branches or on old stem, sometimes on trunk. The attractive oblong-shaped fruits are juicy, 5 to 6-angled with thin, waxy skin. Ripe fruit is yellow or orange in color. Leaves are compound; leaflet 5-11, ovate-oblong,  3-8 cm long. It is cultivated throughout the tropical and subtropical regions for not only its edible fruits but also for medicinal uses.  Averrhoa carambola gives flower all the year round.  It can be found in the courtyard of the house in Bangladesh.