I visited the National Botanical Garden in Mirpur more than once last year to take photographs of a few trees and flowers. The garden not only gives you the space to relax and get some fresh air, it also provides visitors and nature lovers with the opportunity to see some rare trees, herbs and shrubberies.

Kamdeb is one such rare tree in the garden. Its scientific name is Callophyllum Polyanthum, while it is locally known as Kiroli, kaan, chandua, toilo, etc. According to botanist Shamsul Huq, there are three trees in the garden. No sapling of the tree was produced. No grafting is possible either.

Kamdeb is an evergreen tree of medium height. They can grow up to 45 metres. The barks can be of yellow, grey or black with curves. The thick pointed leaves are straight and grow up to six to six and a half centimetres. The tree bears four to 10mm long fragrant flowers -- sepal four, dissimilar and oval shape. Four petals and many stamens. The edible fruits hang from the trees. The oval stones are brown in colour. The timber looks reddish brown. The wood is used for making boats, masts, and various household stuff. It is also used for making approach roads of the ghats (landing stations) in our coastal areas. The seed oil is used as fuel in India. Saplings are grown from the seeds and cutting. The flowers and fruits grow from January to July. The origin of the tree is Thailand, India and southwest China. The closest species of Kamdeb is Sultanchampa which is fairly common in our coastal belts.

According to Botany reference books, the tree is indigenous to Sylhet, Cox's Bazar and Chittagong hill tracts. It may be assumed that the trees are in an endangered state in the areas, as there is no updated record with the forest department itself.

Kamal Hossain, professor of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science at Chittagong University, says the tree may exist in a small number in our hill tracts.

Although the Mirpur Botanical Garden is home to a good number of rare trees and plants and quite rich in variety, the garden is poorly maintained. None of the trees bears any nameplate. The garden also lacks a proper road map.