India, April 16 -- When British anthropologist Verrier Elwin asked a Gond tribe member about his thoughts on life and death, the man described heaven as "miles and miles of forest without any forest guards" and hell as "miles and miles of forest without any mahua trees". The tribe member held such deep affection for mahua (Madhuca longifolia) that he wished to be buried under it-not beneath the sacred saaj (Terminalia elliptica) tree in which the Gonds' supreme deity resides- so that even in afterlife, he could drink the sap from mahua's roots. The anecdote finds mention in Elwin 1936 book, Leaves from the Jungle: Life in a Gond Village.

Considered among the most significant trees of central India, mahua plays a pivotal role in the life ...