Woodland that became Colombo  by Tissa Devendra Cinnamon Gardens ladies at work My familiarity with the subjects of Botany and Sinhalese Grammar faded away when I abandoned both subjects [or vice versa] after my fling at the SSC exam long ago in 1945. However, many years later, as a District Land Officer tramping hilly footpaths, precarious tank bunds and thorny jungle tracks, on field inspections, I observed that many Sinhala villages I visited derived their names from trees in the surrounding countryside. The present article is a ‘recollection in tranquility’ deriving from those experiences and relating to Colombo’s urban jungle where I spend the evening of my days. I am no scholar in either of the two disciplines I refer to earlier, and apologise for any misinterpretations, and look forward to scholarly comments on my un-scholarly observations. ...