ThursdayTreeLove – Page 7

08/10/202022/10/2020

Sweet Sour (ThursdayTreeLove)

We have all heard of the story of Ber offered by Shabari to Lord Ram. The sweet sour Ber (Indian Plum) is a favourite fruit for many of us.. I remember a vendor selling small red Ber near our school and quite often we did buy a handful for a Rupee – always sold in a paper cone!

What did its tree look like or where did it grow was never thought of!

Over time, I have lost a taste for Ber but its tree has fascinated me.

The hills of Pune are home to many Ber trees. Some of them are the wild variety and not tasty at all but still a good reminder of my childhood.

Ber belongs to the Ziziphus genus and to the Rhamnaceae family. It is a small tree with drooping branches. Some species are shrub-like and armed. The leaves typically are three nerved and have a shiny whitish undersurface. This makes it quite easy to identify a Ber tree.

Here is the Ber I meet very often in my walks!

**Tiny creamy yellowish flowers . Three veined leaves with toothed margins!**

Forgive me for the hazy image but do see the shiny white leaf undersides.

**Ber are the red berries at the bottom right. This image is taken at Mahabaleshwar ! Natural foods to munch while sight seeing!**

What is your memory of this humble fruit? Do you like the sweet variety of Ber or the sour ones?

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some wonderful trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

24/09/202024/09/2020

Autumn Colours (ThursdayTreeLove)

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower” – Albert Camus

Looking at Autumn or Fall colours is a right on top of my Tree Travel wish lists.. I have always just got a glimpse of the glorious foliage never really catching the plants in their full Fall Glory.

As the above quote says, each leaf dons a spectacular unique colour that truly makes it look like a flower.

Here are a few images from my travels.. I am looking forward to the day when I can see the Fall Colours with my own eyes.. sigh…. Till then, I look forward to the TTL posts from around the world in the next couple of month..

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!

10/09/202010/09/2020

Henna (ThursdayTreeLove)

Today I have a Shrub instead of a Tree but I am sure all of you will enjoy this plant!

The title has been the spoiler so no surprises about the identity.

Yes, these delicate flowers are of the Henna or Mehendi plant. Botanically called Lawsonia inermis, it belongs to the Lythraceae family (that is the family of Crape Myrtles). It is a native and evergreen species.

In my childhood days, I remember it was grown as a hedge plant – I was told that the leaves are bitter hence goats, cows stayed away. However neighbourhood girls always managed to pluck the leaves, grind them on stones and apply the paste on our hands. The red colour was sufficient attraction.. the design was simple – a circle in the centre of the palm and capping the ends of the fingers. There was no thought of making designs.

I do remember we used to put a dot on the forehead.. this is one part where Mehendi does not colour the skin.. the story was if the forehead skin took up the colour then that girl would be a Queen!

No… mine never did colour!

Over the years, this way of putting Mehendi has ended.. readymade Mehendi cones have replaced ground leaves and designs are elaborate.

I am not complaining.. I love the colour and the fragrance that Mehendi leaves on our hands!

Besides India, Mehendi is also used as body art is several countries. We also use it as a hair conditioner and to colour hair.

Here are a few images of Mehendi as body art.

On the top left, the artist is at work! The Peacock and Lotus are popular design elements.

I am sure most of you would be familiar with Henna/Mehendi .. Have you seen the shrub?

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!

27/08/202027/08/2020

Red and Green (ThursdayTreeLove)

The Gulmohor (Delonix regia) of the Caesalpiniaceae family is a deciduous tree -which means it loses its foliage in the winter. Come summer it bursts into full red glory (sometimes orange).. but once it rains, the tree becomes a glorious green canopy.

Here are the images of the same tree in May and August! Nature has its own way of signalling seasons to the trees. Is it the temperature, position of the Sun, or something else?

Either way, trees dont need a calender .. infact, sometimes they indicate the upcoming season to us!

This is my TTL post from May 2020 – the very same tree in full red glory!

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

13/08/202013/08/2020

Yellow (ThursdayTreeLove)

The almost mandatory photo stop in my daily walk!

What do you first see in this image? I know you will say trees.. we are on ThursdayTreeLove after all!! And you are right!!

Normally I would have admired the clouds or the view but this time the yellow blaze caught my eye. So much so that I walked an extra 500m to reach this tree.

There grew a row of Peltophorum pterocarpum and all were in bloom. Their blazing yellow flowers were the head turners that day. This tree belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family and is known as Copper Pod Tree. It is a common avenue tree in Pune and its dense green foliage is made up of pretty feather like leaves . Its fragrant flowers give way to rusty red pods hence the local name Copper Pod tree. The Peltophorum looks wonderful in bloom as well as when full of these coppery pods.

Not native to Pune, yet the species is happy in the city with profuse flowering and fruiting every year.

As I said, this is mostly an avenue tree which means one cannot really sit under its dense cool shade or enjoy its fragrance … It is all in a days work for the Peltophorum to lay out a yellow carpet for morning walkers..

A yellow carpet .. image from a few years ago

Have you seen this majestic tree and enjoyed the fragrance of its blooms?

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!

23/07/202027/07/2020

Brush (ThursdayTreeLove)

A visit to the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Botanical Garden in Kolkata was at the end of our trip to the Sunderbans. It was a botanically wondrous trip to say the least! The Garden itself is huge and home to unique trees like the famous Banyan.

Here is another tree that I met for the first and only time! A beautiful red brush like structure beckoned me from a distance and located as it was amid leaves had me immediately thinking of the Shaving Brush tree (Pseudobombax ellipticum) which does grow in Pune. However when I went closer, the tree looked different especially its leaves. It was end of January and the digitate glossy green leaves suggested a different ID.

Luckily for me, the placard saved me the trouble and I could freely admire the Pachira aquatica without any stress of identification. It belongs to the Bombacaceae family just like the Shaving Brush Tree which explained the similarity in the flowers. Also known as Malabar Chestnut tree it is an introduced species in India. I loved its flowers which are nothing like those used for table decorations or bouquets.

Have you seen this wonderful tree? When in Kolkata please do make time for the botanical garden!
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove Blog hop. Do head over to see some wonderful trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

09/07/202025/07/2020

Striking (ThursdayTreeLove)

“Love the trees until their leaves fall off and then encourage them to try again next year” – Chadd Sugg

Like my previous TTL post, this is another solitary tree on a plateau! After the first rains, the sky was absolutely clear and blue and I simply could not walk past without capturing the striking beauty of this tree against the sky.

I think it is a Khair (Acasia genus but I havent got down to a specific ID) and belongs to the Mimosaceae family. It is deciduous and is just about breaking into new leaf right now.

Here are its blossoms..

Dont they remind you of the Diwali Fuljhadi ??

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

Continue reading “Striking (ThursdayTreeLove)”

25/06/202022/07/2020

Solitary And Strong (ThursdayTreeLove)

“Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong”
Winston Churchill

This tree grows alone by the edge of a quarry… I have seen it for at least a decade and I am fascinated by the shape of its trunk. Its obviously endured some trauma – either natural (wind etc) or human but it stands strong as ever.

Let me leave you to enjoy the tree and hopefully my image will convey the beauty of the spot it grows at.

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!

11/06/202002/08/2020

Upside Down (ThursdayTreeLove)

Majority plants we see have their flowers or inflorescence growing upwards.. or facing the sky.
I am sure you all must have noticed it.

But there are some beautiful species where the flowers actually face downwards.. towards the ground.
Up side Down as it were.
Let me first share two of my favourites..
Moha .. A species indigenous to India and has huge economic importance especially for tribals.

Here are its uniquely shaped flowers.

Moha is known all over by its botanical name of Madhuca longifolia and belongs to the Sapotaceae family.Just like Fall Foliage of the West, this tree puts up a spectacular show in spring when it bursts into new leaf. The book Jungle Trees of Central India by Pradip Krishen has two full pages devoted just to the spring reds of the Moha.

Yet another lovely bloom is the Bakul or Maulsari . Its flowers have a divine fragrance and in fact the tree is blooming right now in Pune! Its flowers face downwards as for Moha. Bakul goes by the botanical name Mimusops elengii and belongs to the Sapotaceae family.

Here are some others..
Durangi Babool or Dichrostachys cinerea of the Mimosaceae family.

Wrightia species of the Apocyanceae family.

Flowers of the Custard Apple or Annoa squamosa also face downwards as do those of the Hirwa Chafa or Artabotrys hexapetalus. Both these belong to the Annonaceae family.

Update: Brugmansia , Fuschia and Adansonia digitata also deserve a mention in this post!
Alana has told us that Lenten Rose, Columbine also have downward facing flowers!

Have you noticed downward facing flowers on trees/shrubs/creepers?

I have always wondered why this is a feature of some plants? Does it have something to do with their pollination or seed dispersal?
Any ideas folks?

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

28/05/202022/07/2020

Glorious Gulmohor (ThursdayTreeLove)

May is peak summer in Pune.
Its also the time for the May Flower!
Its blossoms have a soothing effect despite the brilliant red… a colour that is usually associated with heat.

This is a beautiful Gulmohor tree growing on my regular walk route. Here it is..

From a distance.. looks like the rising Sun on the horizon!

Walking closer to the tree

Overlooking its huge canopy

Brilliant

Another view

Beautiful Flowers

Gulmohor belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family and is known all over the world by its botanical name of Delonix regia. The tree is an exotic species in India but is very common in all over the country especially as an avenue tree. It has a shallow root system which means trees tend to fall after a spell of heavy rains.

Some objections to this species (as its not indigenous) is that our birds do not nest on it; birds, insects and animals do not eat its fruit or nectar as food.
However I feel that its foliage gives us much needed oxygen and cooling shade.

What do you think?

Either way, May is the most glorious month for the Gulmohor!

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!