Aegle Marmelos, Bel Tree, Bilva Patra - 0.5 kg Seeds

Aegle marmelos, the bael or bilva tree, is a thorny, slow-to-moderate deciduous tree sacred to Lord Shiva and revered in Hindu tradition. Native to and grown throughout India, it bears trifoliate aromatic leaves and large, hard-shelled fruits filled with sweet, fragrant, mucilaginous pulp.

The fruit is widely used to make cooling sherbet and is highly valued in Ayurveda, where the pulp, leaves, bark and roots treat digestive and other ailments; the foliage is offered in worship. A hardy tree that tolerates dry, alkaline and poor soils, it is grown in home gardens, temple grounds and orchards as a fruit, medicinal and shade tree.

• Family: Rutaceae
• Native region: Indian subcontinent
• Mature height: 8-12 m
• Growth rate: slow to moderate, drought hardy

Extract the seeds from ripe fruit, wash off the pulp and soak them in water for 12-24 hours before sowing, as fresh seed germinates best. Sow about 1 cm deep in a well-drained nursery mix kept warm and moist; germination usually takes 14-21 days. Raise the seedlings in poly bags and transplant carefully, as the long taproot resents disturbance, at the start of the monsoon.