November - 2010

Dear Nature Lovers,
Wishing you a very happy Diwali !
Wild vegetables have always been interesting & unusual, apart from being a nutritious diet of hill dwellers. ‘Ghotwel’ is one such seasonal delicacy having pretty flowers & attractive fruits. Such plants are never grown as crops, so we need to protect their surrounding in totality.
Let’s protect & conserve wilderness for better health & future !
Regards,
Ketaki & Manasi.

Ghotwel
Scientific name: Smilax zeylanica
Family: Smilacaceae
This prickly, perennial climber is also known as Ghetwel, Indian smilax. It grows in clusters, vegetated areas, on trees in medium to high rainfall zones in hills. It profusely flowers with greenish-yellow balls having light fragrance. The bright green leaves have parallel veins & slender stem is reddish in colour. Round, small berries appear in December and are green in colour. Tender leaves & new shoots are used as vegetables. It is medicinally valued as tonic and also used in urinary complaints & dysentery. It is a larval host to butterflies Common leopard (Phalanta phalantha), Water snow flat (Tagiades litigiosa).

*  Open calendar image by clicking on thumbnail, save it to computer and set it as desktop background for your
    computer monitor.

November CalendarClick on the image to enlarge.

Please Note -
This Email is a part of awareness campaign initiated by oikos, Pune. Write to us for your valuable feedback.
oikos have been sending ‘Desktop calendars’ since January’06 with various themes,
which can be downloaded from website.
If you are not willing or not the correct recipient of this Email, kindly reply this mail with subject 'unsubscribe'.  Thanking you for your precious time.
Spread a word !! Forward to nature lovers !
oikos for ecological services
Ph. 020-25451875

Web: www.oikos.in