Vilaiti Keekar

                        MESQUITE / Vilaiti Keekar

VILAITI KEEKAR Prosopis juliflora, Mesquite, Algarroba, South west thorn, /Babool Angreji /Kabuli Keekar (misleading), Keekar.

                                                                   Prosopis juliflora

                                          Killer Keekar leaf does not have a stalk

                                                                    Fruit pod

Mesquite flour is among the earliest known  foods of prehistoric man in the Americas. Foliage and pod make good animal fodder. Valued for firewood and fodder for ecologically poor tract, thus a vital resource for poor desert dwelling people. Its wood makes a high quality charcoal and is prized as a barbeque fuel, imparting a subtle flavor to meats and fish.

Superbly adopted to drought heat and poor soils. Vilaiti Keekar is  an aggressive colonizer. It obliterated Asia's biggest grassland in the Rann of Kutch planted on a Delhi Ridge early last century, it edged out most native trees. It does not tolerate high rainfall or waterlogging.

Prosopis juliflora is called Vilaiti Keekar, it is different from Babool. It is not even an Acacia. A bush or a  medium sized thorny tree or straggling bush with crooked main branches and a spreading , feathery canopy. Young branchlets zigzag. Bark ruddy brown, with long vertical fissures and ridges. Spines in pairs, straight arising from leaf axil.

First introduced from S America on to the Ridge around 1915. It is superbly adapted to Delhi's ecology and has become the city's most common tree by edging out many native species. It is now a serious pest.

Seasons 

Leaves :Leaves shed early in January, renewed between late January and early March. New leaves pale green, darkening gradually. Another flush of new leaves in rains. Twice feathered, the main leaf stalk, branching only once or twice (rarely three times). If you look closely the main leafstalk is prolonged beyond the last pair of side stalks into a minute bristle. The leaflets are small (6-19mm) rounded at both end, up to 26 pairs crowded on each side stalk.

Flowers : From mid March to Late April. Another cycle of flowering just after rains. Flowers pale to greenish yellow, very small clustered in small spikes like 'pipe cleaners'4-10 cm arising from leaf axis. The spike may be solitary or in groups of 2-4. They are mildly fragrant and are visited by bees.

Fruit : ripen April- May also in Late October-November. Fruit pod- a flattish pod about 12-25 cm long, variable in shape, usually curved to some degree. Pale green when young, ripening straw yellow. Parakeets love them. 

Vilaiti Keekar  with its twisted trunks  has become the predominant tree throughout the Delhi Ridge,

KOHI Delhi's hilly tracts correspond to 'the Ridge', which is slightly elevated., rocky land form lying in a longitudinal axis west of and more or less parallel to the Yamuna river. Because of  its underlying rock  and thin sandy soil, The Ridge is a harsh unforgiving habitat and tree growing there need to be specially adopted  to survive drought. Characteristic ridge trees are stunted thorny and open canopied. They have long tap roots to search for moisture deep underground and often shallow spreading roots as well. to exploit due and light rain. Vilaiti Keekar  has become a ubiquitous invasive tree throughout Delhi, aggressively colonizing any path of bare land

                                         Delhi government plans to remove Vilaiti Keekar.

Delhi's Ridge is in  4 parts today

Delhi's "Ridge" is the tail end - or the beginning, if you like - of the ancient Aravalli hills 1500 million year old (compared to  just 50 million for the Himalayas). The Aravallis stretch 800 km from Gujrat through Rajasthan and Haryana, pushing into Delhi from Gurugram to the south west.

• The old Delhi of northern Ridge denotes the hilly areas near Delhi university and is by far the smallest segment of the ridge. Nearly 170 hectares were declared a reserve forest in 1915. Less than 87 hectares remain today.
• The New Delhi of Central Ridge was made into reserved forest in 1914 and stretches from just South of Sadar Bazar to Dhaula kuan. It extend over864 hectares, but some bit have been nibbed away.
• The Mehrauli or South -Central Ridge is centered on Sanjay Vana, near JNU, and encompases633 hectares. Large chunks have been encroached and built upon.
• The Tughlakabad or Southern Ridge Sprawls across6200 hectares and includes the Asola and Bhatti wildlife centuries. This is the least urban of the 4 segments of the ridge, but a lot of it is village- or privately owned farm land.

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