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Sweet fragrance of Boddu sampenga becomes rare
The queen of the flowers ‘green sampenga’ (scientific name Artabotrys hexapetalus ), also popularly known as ‘Boddu Sampenga’ is on the verge extinction in the Eastern Ghats.
Visakhapatnam: The queen of the flowers ‘green sampenga’ (scientific name Artabotrys hexapetalus ), also popularly known as ‘Boddu Sampenga’ is on the verge extinction in the Eastern Ghats.
The flower of sweet fragrance, a popular flower in the north coastal districts, has not been visible for the past one decade. After the Hudhud cyclone which destroyed the green cover in the Visakhapatnam region, maximum extent of green sampenga trees died, only to be found at a few places.
Green sampenga is also one of the flowers offered in puja of Lord Narayana and Goddess Mahalakshmi during the special rituals. Earlier, there are plenty of the trees on Simhachalam hills getting much demand from visitors to the temple. A special quality of sampenga is that the flower has two days life and a very good fragrance.
Simhachalam hills are rich in medicinal plants as well as medium-size shrubs and evergreen varieties. Some of the native species found here include alli, ankudu, srigandam, banyan, fig trees, asoka and attractive green and gold colour sampenga flowers.
The Department of Botany, Andhra University, had submitted a list of native trees to be planted, mainly the famous green sampenga trees whose number had been dwindling by year. The most favourable season for the flowers is August to December.
Simhachalam Devasthanam EO K Ramachandra Mohan said that green sampenga is not the native species for Simhachalam on the Ratnagiri hills. It was planted in mango groves down the hill by farmers who cultivated Devasthanam lands.
“After Hudhud cyclone, the Devasthanam had planted 63,500 saplings of 60 varieties in the last three years. Among them, 300 saplings belong to Simhachalam Sampenga (golden sampenga.) The devasthanam is planning to take another plantation programme in the coming rainy season and will ensure more number of green sampenga saplings,” Ramachandra Mohan told The Hans India.
The flower traders are also saying that majority of visitors of Simhachalam and other parts of the state are asking for green sampenga. But, during in the past decade the supply of flowers has been coming down, they said.
