Betula utilis 19th century, Kashmiri pandits reported all of their books were written on Himalayan birch bark until Akbar introduced paper in the 16th century. The Sanskrit word for the tree is "bhûrja"—sharing a similarity with other Indo-European words that provide the origin for the common name "birch". The bark is still used for writing sacred mantras, which are placed in an amulet and worn around the neck for protection or blessing. This practice was mentioned as early as the 8th or 9th century CE, in the Lakshmi Tantra, a Pancaratra text. According to legend, the bark was also used as clothing
Crataegus Crataegus Crataegus (), commonly called hawthorn, quickthorn, thornapple, May-tree, whitethorn, or hawberry, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name "hawthorn" was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe, especially the common hawthorn "C. monogyna", and the unmodified name is often so used in Britain and Ireland. The name is now also applied to the entire genus and to the related Asian genus "Rhaphiolepis". The Latin name "Crataegus" is from the Greek "kratos" "strength" and "akis" "sharp", referring