Non Timber Forest Produce Questions and Answers

Answer: C

One standard bag contains 50,000 tendu leaves.

Tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon) leaves, used to wrap bidis, are a major minor forest produce of Madhya Pradesh and are collected through the state's cooperative system. Collection and payment are counted in standard bags (manak bora): one standard bag is 1,000 bundles (gaddi), each of 50 leaves, which makes 50,000 leaves.

The other figures, 10,000, 25,000 and 75,000, do not match the 1,000 bundles of 50 leaves that define the unit.

Answer: C

Phyllanthus niruri is not a myrobalan.

The myrobalans are the fruit-bearing trees whose dried fruits are used in tanning, dyeing and medicine, and which together make up the Ayurvedic preparation triphala: chebulic myrobalan or harad (Terminalia chebula), belleric myrobalan or baheda (Terminalia bellirica), and emblic myrobalan or amla (Phyllanthus emblica).

Phyllanthus niruri (bhumi amla) is a small annual herb used in folk medicine. It shares a genus with amla, which makes it the trap, but it is not a myrobalan species.

Answer: D

The only natural resin of animal origin, lac, is produced by Kerria lacca.

Lac is secreted by the lac insect, Kerria lacca, which feeds on host trees such as kusum, palas and ber. The female insects cover themselves with a resinous secretion that is scraped off as stick lac and refined into shellac, used in varnishes, polishes, bangles, sealing wax and food coatings. India is a leading producer.

Phenacoccus solenopsis is the cotton mealybug, a crop pest. Ogyris is a genus of butterflies and Gynnidomorpha a genus of moths; none of them produces lac.

Answer: A

Gum karaya is obtained from Sterculia urens.

Sterculia urens (kullu or karaya) is a deciduous tree of dry, rocky hills in central India, including Madhya Pradesh. The gum exudes when the bark is tapped, and is used as a thickener and stabiliser in food, as a laxative, in dental adhesives and in the textile and paper industries. India is the world's main source.

Acacia nilotica (babul) yields babul gum, a substitute for gum arabic, and Pinus kesiya (Khasi pine) yields resin, not gum karaya. Since one option is correct, 'None of the above' is wrong.

Answer: D

Asafoetida comes under gum-resin.

Asafoetida (hing) is the dried exudate obtained by cutting the roots and rhizomes of Ferula species, especially Ferula assa-foetida. It is a mixture of resin, gum and volatile oil, which is why it is classed as a gum-resin (strictly an oleo-gum-resin).

A pure gum dissolves or swells in water and has no resin, and an essential oil is a volatile oil obtained by distillation; asafoetida contains both kinds of material but is neither alone. Turpentine is the oil distilled from pine resin.

Answer: A

Chilgoza is obtained from Pinus gerardiana.

Pinus gerardiana, the chilgoza pine, grows in the dry inner valleys of the north-western Himalaya, such as Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh. Its large, edible seeds, the chilgoza nuts, are a valuable non-timber forest product and an important source of income for local people.

Pinus roxburghii (chir pine) is tapped for resin, Pinus wallichiana (blue pine) is valued for timber, and Pinus kesiya (Khasi pine) grows in north-east India; none produces chilgoza.

Answer: C

Kittul fibre is obtained from Caryota urens.

Caryota urens, the fishtail or toddy palm (kittul in Sri Lanka), yields a strong, black, wiry fibre from the bases of its leaf stalks. Kittul fibre is used for brushes, brooms, ropes and fishing lines, and the palm is also tapped for sap to make jaggery and toddy.

Ficus religiosa is the peepal; Streblus asper is a small tree whose leaves are used as sandpaper and twigs as tooth-sticks; and Antiaris toxicaria (the upas tree) yields bark cloth and arrow poison, not kittul fibre.

Answer: C

Gaultheria fragrantissima gives wintergreen oil.

Gaultheria fragrantissima, the Indian wintergreen, is a shrub of the Himalaya, the north-east and the Nilgiris. Its leaves are distilled to give wintergreen oil, which is almost pure methyl salicylate and is used in pain-relieving balms, liniments, flavourings and perfumes.

Keora oil comes from the flowers of Pandanus odoratissimus, costus oil from the roots of Saussurea costus (kuth), and khus oil from the roots of vetiver grass, Chrysopogon zizanioides.

Answer: D

The first forest product nationalised in Madhya Pradesh was tendupatta.

Tendu leaves (Diospyros melanoxylon), used to roll bidis, were nationalised in Madhya Pradesh in 1964, so that the State took over their trade from private contractors. Collection is now organised through primary forest produce co-operative societies, and the collectors share in the profits.

Timber, bamboo and gum are also important forest products, but tendupatta was the first to be brought under State monopoly.

Answer: C

Salai-guggul is obtained from Boswellia serrata.

Boswellia serrata, the salai tree of the dry deciduous forests of Madhya Pradesh, is tapped for an oleo-gum-resin, Indian frankincense or salai guggul, used in medicine and incense; its boswellic acids are valued as anti-inflammatory agents.

Acacia farnesiana yields cassie perfume, Bursera delpechiana yields Indian linaloe oil, and Cananga odorata yields ylang-ylang oil. None gives salai guggul.