A khatta-meetha take on life around me through my presbiopic eyes!
May has been unusually hot this year in Pune with no signs of summer showers. Yet the trees seem to be loving the heat.
Especially the Delonix regia of the Caesalpiniaceae family. Better known as the Gulmohor or the Mayflower.
I am participating in the April AtoZ Blogging challenge and my theme is Plants featured on Indian Stamps. This is my eight attempt at the AtoZ.
My theme is inspired by an online talk by Daniel L Nikrent of Cornell University, USA held by Maharashtra Vriksha Samvardhini about Parasitic Flowering Plants featured on Stamps.
I am not a stamp collector nor a fan of stamps. Hence almost all my posts are purely based on research on the internet. I have tried to cross check the info before posting here. Please do share correct info and links to the same in case of discrepancy.
India Post has a very strong network reaching deep deep into the interiors of the country and I depended on it for news from home when we were posted in far away places. In this age of smartphones, Internet, how many of us really write letters – snail mail as they are now called? Despite this , I find that new stamps are being issued and we have stamps on diverse topics including Armed Forces, Films, Personalities, Wildlife, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Food and so on.. It is amazing!
X . This alphabet has again been a bit of a stretch but I am sure you will love this stamp. And the tree!
🙂
Xmas is a much loved festival all around the world. I love the Xmas trees and in fact we visited the US in winter 2021, just to see the lovely decorations and celebrations.
Fir (Genus Abies), Spruce (Genus Picea) and Pine (Genus Pinus) are common conifers used as Xmas trees. This article describes some popular species used.
Here are some of the wonderful trees we saw.
So its but natural to find this beautiful festival represented on our stamp. India Post’s Season Greetings stamp with a decorated Xmas tree was issued in 2016 of denomination 10 INR.
The India Postage Stamps website has a complete catalogue of stamps. Please click the link to see many many wonderful stamps.
Colnect is a comprehensive portal for Stamp collectors. It gives detailed information about every listed stamp. Click here for detailed info about Stamps – what is a stamp, types, formats, water marks, perforations and much more.
You can catch up with my previous posts here. We meet tomorrow for yet another beautiful plant and its stamp!
Linking this post with Parul‘s wonderful ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in.
If you face difficulties in commenting, please click here to share your thoughts. Thanks!!
I am participating in the April AtoZ Blogging challenge and my theme is Plants featured on Indian Stamps. This is my eight attempt at the AtoZ.
My theme is inspired by an online talk by Daniel L Nikrent of Cornell University, USA held by Maharashtra Vriksha Samvardhini about Parasitic Flowering Plants featured on Stamps.
I am not a stamp collector nor a fan of stamps. Hence almost all my posts are purely based on research on the internet. I have tried to cross check the info before posting here. Please do share correct info and links to the same in case of discrepancy.
India Post has a very strong network reaching deep deep into the interiors of the country and I depended on it for news from home when we were posted in far away places. In this age of smartphones, Internet, how many of us really write letters – snail mail as they are now called? Despite this , I find that new stamps are being issued and we have stamps on diverse topics including Armed Forces, Films, Personalities, Wildlife, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Food and so on.. It is amazing!
Lagerstromia speciosa or Tamhan (aka Jarul) of the Lythraceae family is the state flower of Maharashtra. This native tree is now seen often in gardens and roadsides. The flowers look spectacular with their frilly petals and are a pleasure to watch in the blazing summer. It is the state flower of my state Maharashtra. Its leaves turn a beautiful red before they fall.
Here is the Tamhan from my image collection.
This is the stamp issued in 1993 is of denomination of 1 INR.
The India Postage Stamps website has a complete catalogue of stamps. Please click the link to see many many wonderful stamps.
Colnect is a comprehensive portal for Stamp collectors. It gives detailed information about every listed stamp. Click here for detailed info about Stamps – what is a stamp, types, formats, water marks, perforations and much more.
You can catch up with my previous posts on my 2022AtoZ here.
In addition to the AtoZ, with this post, I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in! I think I am over the commenting issues but if you still face difficulties in sharing your thoughts, please click here to do so. Thanks!!
Stay Healthy! Stay Happy!
Thisis a wonderful Ficus growing on my regula walk route. It’s full of fruit and birds are having a feast!
Ficus is a genus of the Moraceae family. Many Ficus varieties grow in Pune and around India. Either as roadside trees or in gardens and in temples.
Have you seen birds feasting on a Ficus? It’s a great place for birders to see different bird varieties.
I would love to hear from you. If you face issues in commenting below, pleas click here to share your thoughts.
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see fantastic trees from around the world.
Here are some trees that I saw at the Stanford University campus.. the famous Ivy League institution. They added to the intense academic and intellectual aura of the campus and had me in total awe!
Scroll down for a glimpse of some of the beautiful trees.
This is just a glimpse. The vast campus would have many treasures from the plant kingdom making it the ideal place to study and research.
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
I would love to hear from you. In case you face difficulties in commenting, please click here. Thanks!!
We almost missed this tree as we walked a quaint street in Annapolis. It was a cold day in early Dec 2021 and my husband spotted these unique roots.
I am unable to identify the tree but its lovely ‘root pearls’ ensure I won’t ever forget it!
What do you think? Have you seen this tree?
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop.
I would love to hear from you. In case you face difficulties in commenting, please share your thoughts here.
This is actually a backdated post.. I was unable to post here due to issues with the host or server or WordPress or whatever. Then there have been issues with leaving comments on the posts.
Sigh!
🙁
I had a wonderful opportunity to see trees in their winter glory when I joined my husband on his golf trip. These are images from a golf course in South Carolina, USA.
Click here to read the original post and for a virtual walk around the Tree (Golf) Course!!
Todays post features trees differently.. Rather I am just sharing images of a unique experience that I was lucky to have last month.
The Chicago Botanic Garden has an annual light festival called Lightscape around Christmas and we were to visit. Our tickets were for a 9PM entry hence cold was certainly what I expected but beyond that I really did not know what to look forward to.
But what I experienced was totally mind blowing. Again, a phone camera is totally inadequate to capture the ambience but I that does not stop me from sharing the images. I am sure some of our TTL bloggers from the US would have this or seen similar winter light displays.
Getting back to the garden, we entered via a lit up archway and then walked on an about 1.25 mile-trail (about 2.01 kms) trail. Different artists had decorated each area in different themes using different lights, music and even other special effects like lasers, music, fire (all with due safety precautions!).
Coming as I do from a tropical region, walking at below 0Deg C at night was daunting. But our hosts ensured we were warmly and securely clad which made the walk totally enjoyable and memorable. The entire visit was an grand surreal, multisensory experience.
It was not a walk meant to identify trees. Rather I could appreciate their shapes and growth patterns which were high-lighted by the various lights.
The moon held its own in the night sky despite the (artificial) million lights glittering below and we could spot its reflection in the lake as well.
Here is my humble attempt to capture memories of my visit.
I heavily recommend a visit to this garden at any time of the year and the Christmas light show if possible (I am told tickets get sold out in November itself).
Image credit to Rajendra Sonarikar.
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from aorund the world. Better still, join in.
Lot of my blog visitors have faced difficulties in commenting. If you are unable to comment belw, Please leave your thoughts here. Thank you! I would love to hear from you. 🙏🏻
“Here we go around the Mulberry bush…” is a popular nursery rhyme from my childhood and even now. Contrary to the song, it is not a bush but a small tree. Pune has a few of these trees though it is not native to this region and they do flower and fruit every year. Its botanical name is Morus alba and belongs to the Moraceae family.
I wondered about the origins of the rhyme especially when I saw this fruit laden tree. A Wikipedia article revealed some strange history. One theory suggests that the rhyme began with female prisoners at a prison in England who exercised around a Mulberry tree. Another theory suggests that the rhyme could be a joke on the difficulties faced by the silk industry.
This particular tree was filled with fruit though my photo does not do justice to its abundance. The small oval shaped fruit are sweet sour to taste and best eaten when dark in colour. The fruit is also very delicate and crushes easily when handled. Its flowers are green catkins that hand down from axils.
While this tree is small, I have seen a huge one at Joshimath in Uttarakhand, which is said to be an over 2000 year old heritage tree. (Sharing this image though I know it is totally unrelated to the nursery rhyme…)
Have you seen the Mulberry Tree? Do you remember the nursery rhyme?
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some lovely trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
Some of my blog visitors have been unable to comment here. If you face any commenting issues, please leave your thoughts here. Thanks!! I would love to hear from you!
“Looking out over the lake, I felt enveloped in the most peaceful, loving utopia.” – Laurie Kahn
My daughter sent me this image as she was struck by the beauty of the blue lake and the tree growing in it. It was impossible to identify the tree, or what made its branches look white. Was it hosting some birds? Or had its leaves turned white for some reason?
The lake itself was still and beautiful and the tree seemed happy to grow in the middle of the water.
All that mattered was the feeling of calm afforded by the view.
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
