Trees of Victoria Memorial Compound

Victoria Memorial, the iconic landmark of Kolkata, can be good place for tree lovers too. It has quite a few rare trees. I'll list a few of them with their GPS location. I took a left turn after entering from the main entrance. So the first few are in that direction. From the pebbled ground in front of the main entrance, a concrete path starts towards left. After walking some 40 steps on you right at a similar distance you will find Laurel Fig. 

I hope the map below will help you to plan your exploration of the trees.

1. Laurel Fig / Indian laurel /Chinese Banyan (Ficus microcarpa) GPS 22.54672N, 88.34347E

A mid-sized to large banyan-like tree with dangling areal roots and very small (2-3 inches) elliptical shiny leaves. This tree is found in moist areas of India and in Malay peninsula. A good tree for avenue plantation (partly because its areal root are short and never comes close to ground). More...

2. Kukur Chita (Bengali) or Indian laurel / Soft Bollygum Tree (Litsea glutinosa) GPS 22.54636,88.34504

A small to mid-sized aromatic evergreen tree with a thick brown bark and oval leaves with shiny above and silvery below. More...

3 Mangrove Trumpet Tree (Dolichandrone spathecia) GPS 22.54501, 88.34505

A tall tree with feather compound leaves having 7-9 leaflets which are 2-3'', smooth including a terminal one. Bark yellowish grey. Flower large white trumpet shaped (somewhat like Dhatura (ধুঁতরো) flower). This tree has a large distribution that includes India (Sundarban, according to ToC). More...

4. Bishopwood Tree (Bischofia javanica) GPS 22.54481, 88.34510

Trifoliate (Bel like 3 leaves compound) with a saw-toothed leaflets. Also known as tiger tree because tigers prefer this tree for sharpening their claws. More...

5. Toona or Australian Red Cedar (Toona ciliata) GPS 22.54500,88.34414

A large handsome tree with dense shady crown. Leaves feathered compound 5-10 pair (7 most common) of leaflets, without terminal leaflet, 1-3 feet long. Mature leaves are bright green but young leaves are reddish. Flowers are honey scented white, in large drooping clusters. Fruit in cluster somewhat like grapes. More...

6. Calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete) GPS 22.54464, 88.34450

A small tree with a short straight trunk and spreading branches, which often spring from near the base of the trunk. Narrow almost stalkless leaves are broadest near their tips and taper gradually to their bases. The fruit is a large, spherical gourd (resembles a huge bel fruit). More...

7. Scarlet Sterculia (Firmiana colorata) GPS 22.54332, 88.34325

A medium-sized to tall tree with grey bark, short branches, roundish lobed leaves. Tree bears scarlet-colored narrow flowers in clusters when the tree is completely leafless. More...

8. Sea Hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus) GPS 22.54288,88.34300

A small bushy tree with many branches, leaves roundish, heart shaped on long stalk - under surface grayish. Flower bell shaped yellow with crimson colored bottom of the inside. Native of the beaches and tidal forest of the tropics including Bengal (so a potential native of Kolkata).  More...

9. African Baobab Tree (Adansonia digitata). A young tree which can become giant. Small as it is, still displays the characteristics of fat trunk near the base tapering to a very thin branches on top. Leaves are digitately compound. GPS: 22.54261, 88.34289

10. Scarlet Cordia (Cordia sebestina) GPS 22.54266, 88.34282

A small tree with 4-6'' long elliptical coarse and hairy leaves. Scarlet orange flowers grow in small clusters on tip of the branches almost throughout the year. An exotic tree from tropical Americas.

11. Buttercup Tree / Yellow Silk Cotton (Cochlospermum religiosum). A small tree with broad, lobed leaves, bearing large, yellow flowers on the bare branches early in March. GPS 22.54418, 88.34161. More...

12. Silk Tree (Albizia niopoides) GPS 22.54551, 88.34095

A very beautiful, lofty, evergreen tree with smooth bark, a few gradually spreading limbs, and feathery foliage borne only at the tips of the branches, forming a graceful, rounded crown

13. Elephant Ear Tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) GPS 22.5456, 88.34116

Close relative of more common copper pod tree (which known as radhachura or kanak chura in Bengali). This trees is the national tree of Costa Rica.

14. Dwarf Mast Tree (Polyalthia longifolia var.angustifolia). A rare cultivar of Mast Tree (দেবদারু), note it is the leaves which is dwarf, not the tree. GPS 22.54425,88.34318

15. Buddha Coconut Trees (Pterygota alata) are one of the tallest trees found in Kolkata. There is a peculiar variety of it where the leaves are different from each other. A small such tree is there at 22.54461, 88.34507