The recently reclaimed Agri-Horticultural Society (AHS) on Cathedral Road is a treasure trove for plant taxonomists, floristic officers and scholars of natural history. The hope of access henceforth for academic purposes to this unexplored haven is good news.
As a botanist, my understanding of the history of AHS and the contribution of its founding members made me visit AHS with the hope of sighting the plants that were recorded in The Handbook of Trees, Shrubs and Herbaceous Plants growing in the Madras Agri-Horticultural Society’s Garden by Hugh Cleghorn (1853), edited by Robert Brown (1862) and updated by JJ Wood (1866).
Pieces of the past
Following the founding of AHS in Calcutta in 1820 by William Carey, it was formed in Madras in 1835 to evoke interest in plant studies. Dr Robert Wight, the founding member of AHS came to Madras as Assistant Surgeon, but was appointed as Naturalist to Madras Presidency in 1826 by Sir Thomas Munro, Governor of Madras. This facilitated him to undertake many plant-collecting trips culminating in the founding of AHS.
In 1852, Cleghorn, another surgeon, revered as the Father of Scientific Forestry in India became the secretary, AHS, parallel to his appointment as Professor of Botany at the Madras Medical College. He was succeeded by Brown as the superintendent.
Many who were deputed as East India Company’s surgeons to Madras, turned their attention to plants, exploring their therapeutic properties. They engaged translators to learn about medicinal plants from locals, sending letters back to their contemporaries in London along with the botanical specimens. Soon they expanded their interest to gardening, avenue planting, cultivation of exotic fruits and creation of parks which led to the Agri-horti gardens.
Wight, Cleghorn and Brown imported seeds from various countries and also from Calcutta Botanical garden and grew them in the AHS. The plants were all labelled with durable zinc plates containing the botanical and English names along with its native distribution. The name boards and the handbook of Brown and Wood facilitated the identification of plants in the garden for visitors as well as for amateur buyers.
In the Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency (1885), Maclean records that the Government gave an annual contribution of ₹500 for prizes towards agricultural and other products grown in the garden such as cotton, tea, cereal, forage, gums, resins, dyes, shade/avenue trees. An annual flower show was held regularly for more than a century.
Rare gems
Another way to take a quick glance was through buying plants, manure and garden tools here. Photography was frowned upon, however even a quick glance revealed trees that were rare, exotic, old, gigantic and of heritage value.
Adansonia digitata, the gigantic African Baobab also called as Devil’s tree is the star attraction. The baobabs inside AHS must be more than 150 years old, similar to the other baobabs in the city. (Most of the baobabs in the city are found in places associated with Hugh Cleghorn. Look for them at the Madras Medical College campus and the Government Museum premises.)
The other noteworthy species of considerable size within the AHS include ylang-ylang tree (Cananga odorata), sea grape tree (Coccoloba uvifera), Ceylon tea tree (Elaeodenron glaucum), wood of life (Guaiacum officinale), Butter tree (Madhuca longifolia var. latifolia), Champak tree (Magnolia champaca), Ceylon ironwood (Manilkara hexandra), Moulmein Rosewood (Millettia peguensis) and Arjun Tree (Terminalia arjuna).
Some of the rare trees found here are Rose of Venezuela (Brownea grandiceps), Autograph Tree (Clusia rosea), the massive cabbage palm (Corypha macropoda), Begging Bowl tree (Crescentia cujete), Velvet apple (Diospyros blancoi), Guest Tree (Kleinhovia hospita), Buddha Coconut (Pterygota alata), Sita’s Ashok (Saraca asoca) and the Octopus Tree (Schefflera actinophylla). These trees and many more within the garden deserve protection and preservation.
In the latter part of 1800s, the garden superintendents grew peaches, pears, apples, avocados, yellow cotton tree, bloodwood tree, nutmeg, olive tree, Indian Redwood and Tallow trees in the AHS. The reclaimed space will be an ideal botanical garden in the plains of an urban landscape that can instil an attitude of appreciation, cognition and conservation of biological diversity.
The botanical garden can be designed with the existing rare and old trees, along with newly introduced aquatic plants, xerophytes, insectivorous plants, parasitic plants, endangered plants, endemic plants, seed banks, tissue culture lab, an herbarium Centre, a natural history museum, a polyhouse, an arboretum, an orchard etc. These facilities can be an excellent off-site laboratory for many school and college students who do not get an opportunity to see live specimens in their classrooms. May the road to understanding the nuances of plant kingdom lead to AHS and to the connected Semmozhi Poonga for a wider perspective to know diversity and understand our priceless ecosystem.
Dr Pauline Deborah R is a botanist, avid bird watcher and author of three books including ‘Common Trees of Chennai’. She has extensively studied the natural history and tree diversity of Chennai.’
