77named tree is found. An example of the latter is gumma-na guḍḍe ta:ri ‘ owl -GEN
hill Terminalia.bellirica ’, the name of a large T. bellirica growing on a specifi c hill
which is, in turn, named after the owls that live on it. As is evident from Table 3.2 ,
tree names can contain the names of other plant species, especially if the tree in
question is associated with a plant-based toponym.
3.8.1 Sacred Trees
The most signifi cant trees in the Solega religion are two large and very old individu-
als of the species Michelia champaca , which are known by the names doḍḍa sam-
page ‘big sampage ’ and cikka sampage ‘small sampage ’ ( sampage is the Solega
name for the M. champaca tree). These two trees are venerated as sacred entities in
their own right, and are also associated with a myth involving the Hindu god and
goddess Shiva and Parvati, who are supposed to have rested under the doḍḍa sam-
page tree. It is also claimed that a very large huṭṭu linga ‘in-situ lingam ’ (a stone
icon of Shiva) is to be found under the roots of this tree.
3.8.2 Bee Trees
The giant honeybee ( Apis dorsata ; Sol. hejje:nu ) is an important resource to the
Solega, both in a cultural and economic sense [ 148 ]. The honey of this and other bee
species was traditionally consumed in large quantities by individual Solega while
out foraging, travelling, or working their fi elds. Some of these bee species, and in
particular hejje:nu , are migratory, and only arrive in the Solega’s lands at the onset
of the pre- monsoon rains, a migration that coincides with the fl owering of large
rainforest trees. According to the Solega, hejje:nu prefer to live in evergreen forest s
on very tall trees, showing a marked preference for the soravilu ( Acrocarpus frax-
inifolius ) and ba:ge/sele ( Albizzia odoratissima , Albizzia lebbek ) trees. Individual
trees of these species become known across a range of Solega settlements as je: nu
mara or ‘bee/honey trees’, due to the fact that they are home to a large number of
hejje:nu colonies year after year. For instance, the do:vu ma:vu ba:ge is a single
large Albizzia odoratissima found near ko:li ba:vi hill, which attracts upto 50
hejje:nu colonies around the same time every year (Fig. 3.2 ). An invitation to go to
do:vu ma:vu ba:ge at the right time of year can only mean a honey-harvesting trip;
no further explanation is required. Bee tree s are often named after the location in
which they are found growing, although the physical features of the tree may also
sometimes feature in the name (Table 3.3 ). Several other ‘ bee tree s ’ are known to
the Solega, and these, along with other locations where bees often nest, are remem-
bered as a mental map of honey-harvesting sites.
3.8 The Naming of Individual Trees