Rohida Tree (Tecomella undulata): Rajasthan's State Flower and How to Grow It in Jaipur

Rohida belongs to the dry belt that runs from Oman and southern Iran through Pakistan into north-west India. In India most wild trees grow in western Rajasthan, from Barmer and Jaisalmer to Churu and Sikar, and it has also been recorded around Jaipur.

In its home range it lives on 150–500 mm of rain a year and puts up with winter nights of 0 to −2 °C and summer days of 48–50 °C. It does best on well-drained sandy loam or loam, and it grows happily on old, stabilised sand dunes.

Jaipur fits most of this. Summers regularly cross 45 °C, the record low is −2.2 °C, and the sandy soils on the city's edge are close to Rohida's wild ground. The one real difference is rain: about 600–630 mm in a normal year, more than the tree usually sees. On sandy or sloping land that is fine, but keep it away from low corners where monsoon water stands for days.

There is a bigger reason to plant it. The IUCN lists Rohida as Endangered. Trees have been cut for timber faster than they come back, young plants are grazed down, and the seed ripens just as the monsoon begins, so much of it rots before it can sprout.