India, July 31 -- The martyrs' bodies were hanging from the trees, here in Chandni Chowk. That's one of the legends Purani Dilli wale tend to recall of this Walled City avenue. The executions were said to have followed the doomed 1857 uprising against the British. Many of the trees were later felled by the colonial occupiers.

Today, Chandni Chowk is overloaded with trees-unlike the rest of Old Delhi, which hardly has any. A few of the trees are even furnished with stone benches. Indeed, over the decades, Delhi's many chroniclers have extensively dissected Chandni Chowk for its many historic monuments and landmarks. Time to make a note of its many trees as well.

Let's start with a tree more common to coastal lands than to landlocked Delh...