Fragrance of exotic flowers fills streets in Dharwad locality

DHARWAD: For the first time, six Alstonia Scholaris trees in Gayatripuram Extension near Kelgeri in Dharwad are in full bloom. The beauty and fragrance of the flowers have enhanced the serenity of the city and held residents spellbound.
The trees were planted five years ago and this is for the first time that they have flowered.
Alstonia Scholaris is an elegant evergreen tree found in many parts of India.The generic name is in memory of distinguished botanist Prof C Alston (1685-1760) of Edinburgh. The species name scholaris is attributed to the fact that the timber of this tree was traditionally used to make wooden slates and pencils for schoolchildren. Also commonly known as Devil Tree, in mythology and popular imagination it is considered to be the abode of the devil. This is an evergreen tropical tree in the family Apocynaceae. It is native to southern China, tropical Asia and Australasia.
Harshavardhan Sheelavant, coordinator of Nature Research Center, Dharwad, said it has been the tradition in Vishwa Bharati University to honour the graduates and post-graduates by offering Alstonia Scholaris (Saptaparni) during the annual convocation. The tradition was introduced by Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore who founded the varsity.