उपवनविनोद (आचार्य शार्ङ्गधर - वृक्षायुर्वेद, भू-जल संधान एवं उद्यान-विज्ञान सटीक)

12 UPAVANA VINODA
and (2) those that wither after maturity and bear neither flowers nor fruits
e.g., mushrooms.¹
Manu's division² of plants is more systematic than the above. According
to him :
(1) Those that bear abundant flowers and fruits and wither after
fructification are called Oṣadhīs, e. g. rice and wheat.
(2) Those that bear fruits without evident flowers are called Vanaspatis
e. g. Vaṭa, Plakṣa, etc.
(3) Both those which produce flowers only and those which produce
fruits only may be classed as Vṛkṣa.
(4) Bushy herbs of various types may be classed as Guccha, e. g.
Mallikā (Jasminum), and the like.
(5) Succulent shrubs of various types are known as Gulmas.
(6) Grasses of different kinds are called Tṛṇas.
(7) Creepers with stems spreading on the ground (procumbent and
document) are called Pratānas.
(8) Lastly, there are those which twine round or climb a tree or a
support, called Vallis.
Amara's classification is full of details showing a further advance in
knowledge :
(1) The trees (the flowering Vṛkṣas and the flowerless Vanaspatis)
are fruit-bearing and possess woody stem ( काष्ठदारु ), trunks ( प्रकाण्ड-प्रकाण्डः
स्कन्धः स्यान्मूलाच्छाखाविस्तरः ) ;
(2) Arboraceous plants and shrubs ( क्षुपः, ह्रस्वशाखाशिफः ) bearing flowers
as well as fruits.
(3) The Latās are flowering plants with herbaceous stems, some of them
creeping on the ground ( प्रतानिनी ), others succulent ( गुल्मिनी ), others twining
or voluble ( मूलाच्छाखां गता लता—cf. Suśruta—लताप्रतानवत्यः गृष्टिमन्त्यः ).
(4) The Oṣadhis (in the narrower sense) are herbaceous plants bearing
fruits with or without flowers, and dying or withering away after fructification.
Kandaśāka (tubers, rhizomes, corms) are included in this ; e.g., Palāṇḍu (the
onion पलाण्डुस्तु सुकन्दकः ), the Lasuna (garlic, महाकन्दः ) ; etc. But the chief
instances are from the grass family ( धान्यं व्रीहि स्तम्बकरी । स्तम्बो गुच्छस्तृणादीनाम् ।
तृणधान्यानि नीवाराः, etc.).
(5) The Tṛṇas, grasses, of which the characteristic is the formation of
gulmas (culms of grasses with annular knots from which leaves spring
—स्तम्बो गुच्छं तृणादीनामषण्डद्रुमगुच्छयोः ).
The bamboo is considered as a sort of giant grass ( तृणध्वजः ). The reeds
are also placed among the grass ( नलादयस्तृणं गर्मुच्छाशाकप्रसुखमपिप्रसुखमग्रन्थात् नीवाराद्याः ).
1 Positive Science, Dr. Seal, p. 170.
2 Manu Saṃhitā, I. 46-48.