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Tree · Alstonia scholaris
Chatim (devil's tree)
सप्तपर्णी (saptaparni)
IUCN LC · Least concern
A tall evergreen with leaves in whorls of seven and tiny green-white flowers whose scent fills whole streets on autumn nights.
How to recognise it
Count the leaves at a branch tip: they radiate in a wheel, usually seven, which gives the Sanskrit name saptaparni. Long thin paired seed pods hang down in winter.
Where to see it
Kolkata
The state tree of West Bengal and the tree of Santiniketan, where a chatim leaf is handed to each graduating student. Its autumn scent is heavy enough to fill a whole street at night.
Agri-Horticultural Society Garden (often) · AJC Bose Indian Botanic Garden & the Great Banyan (often) · Rabindra Sarobar (often)