75
Strychnos nux vomica, elumichchai,[1] the lemon tree, ōmai,[2] the mango, also mā,[3] kaḍambu,[4] Eugenia racemosa, kaḍavu,[5] Gyrocarpus jacquini, kaḍu,[6] the gall-nut tree, kamugu,[7] the areca palm, karuṅgāli,[8] the ebony, kaḷḷi,[9] Euphorbia tirucalli, kāya,[10] Memecylon tinctorium, kurundu,[11] konṛai,[12] Cassia, śandanam,[13] or āram,[14] sandal-wood tree, teṅgu,[15] cocoanut tree, tēkku,[16] teak, nāval,[17] the jambolan tree, nelli,[18] Indian gooseberry, palā,[19] the jack tree, panai,[20] palmyra, pādiri,[21] Bignonia chelonoides, pālai,[22] the iron-wood tree, puḷi,[23] the tamarind tree, punnai,[24] the Alexandrian laurel, pūvaraśu,[25] the Portia tree, pūvandi,[26] the soapnut tree, magiḻ,[27] a tree of very sweet smelling flower, mādaḷai,[28] the pomegranate, muruṅgai,[29] Hyperanthera murunga, mūṅgil,[30] the bamboo, vāgai,[31] marudam,[32] Terminalia alata, vanni,[33] Prosopis spicigera, vilvam,[34] Crataeva religiosa, viḷā,[35] the wood-apple, vēṅgai,[36] the Pterocarpes bilobus vembu,[37] the margosa tree. The names of smaller plants, and of different kinds of leaves and flowers are so numerous that it is not possible to catalogue them or even to mention the more familiar varieties. The unblown flower was called arumbu,[38] the parts of flowers, idaḻ;[39] pūndēn;[40] young trees nāgu;[41] fruiting trees, paliṇam,[42] trees with heart-wood inside, āṇmaran,[43] with heart-wood outside, peṇmaram,[44] branch, groups of trees without heart-wood, ali,[45] veḷiṛu,[46]; the synonyms of the word, tree, are very considerable in number. I will content myself with noting a few poetic images which show how keen was the observation of nature by the ancient Tamils:—
'The gourd (pīrkku,[47]) with round, white flowers grows along with the thin creeper muśuṇḍai,[48] on shrubs.'[49]
'The hill country has bamboos which wave to and fro and its clear clouds spread the dew amidst the peacocks whose expanded tails shine like the sapphire.[50]
'The forest land possesses the expanding jasmine, taḷavu,[51] the broad November flower, tōnṟi,[52] the mullai with the petals opened, the tēru,[53] (clarifying-nut tree) which drops its flowers, the konṛai,[54] Cassia, whose flowers are like gold, the kāya,[55] whose flowers are like sapphire.'[56]
'The kuravam,[57] has flowered; the cold weather is gone; in the beautiful spring, in the river, a slender stream is running; the wide river with straight stretches of sand has its banks adorned with many
- ↑ எலுமிச்சை.
- ↑ ஓமை.
- ↑ மா.
- ↑ கடம்பு.
- ↑ கடவு.
- ↑ கடு.
- ↑ கமுகு.
- ↑ கருங்காலி.
- ↑ கள்ளி.
- ↑ காயா
- ↑ குருந்து.
- ↑ கொன்றை.
- ↑ சந்தணம்.
- ↑ ஆரம்.
- ↑ தெங்கு
- ↑ தேக்கு.
- ↑ நாவல்.
- ↑ நெல்லி.
- ↑ பலா.
- ↑ பனை.
- ↑ பாதிரி.
- ↑ பாலை.
- ↑ புளி.
- ↑ புன்னை
- ↑ பூவரசு
- ↑ பூவந்தி.
- ↑ மகிழ்.
- ↑ மாதளை
- ↑ முருங்கை.
- ↑ மூங்கில்
- ↑ வாகை.
- ↑ மருதம்.
- ↑ வன்னி.
- ↑ வில்வம்.
- ↑ விலா.
- ↑ வேங்கை
- ↑ வேம்பு
- ↑ அரும்பு.
- ↑ இதழ்.
- ↑ பூந்தேன்.
- ↑ நாகு.
- ↑ பலனம்.
- ↑ ஆண்மரம்
- ↑ பெண்மரம்
- ↑ அலி.
- ↑ வெளிரு
- ↑ பீர்க்கு.
- ↑ முசுண்டை. Iponœa Candicans.
- ↑
புன் கொடி முசணடைப் பொறிப்புற கனபூப்
பொனபோற பீரமோடு புதற்புதல.Neḍunalvāḍai, 13-14. - ↑
மணி மயிற் கலாப மஞ்சிடைப் பரப்பித்
துணிமழை தவமும் துயல்கழை போடு கோடு.Śiṛupānāṛṛuppaḍai, 264-5. - ↑ 51
- ↑ 52
- ↑ 53
- ↑ 54
- ↑ 55
- ↑
அவிழ்தாவி னகன்னோனறி
ரகுமுல்லை புருதேறுவீப்
பொற்கொன்றை மணிக்காய.Porunarāṛṛupaḍai, 199-201. - ↑ (
Tamil characters)
