Red Glory (ThursdayTreeLove)

Here is a tree from my travels… one that had red foliage in the month of May. I always thought that trees in the temperate climates had these glorious colours in autumn.

But this was an exception I guess.

Here is the lovely Fagus sylvatica ‘Atropunica‘ that I saw in the Luxemborg Garden in Paris.

Click here to read the full post and for more images of this lovely tree!

This post is part of Parul’s ThursdayTreeLove blog hop.

Cigar Tree (ThursdayTreeLove)

A wonderful tree that literally stopped me in my tracks! And as I was crossing the road . This was in London but rest assured, I had sufficient time to stay back at the traffic signal and photograph it.

The Cigar Tree – That’s what I think it is!! Catalpa speciosa.

You can read the full post here as part of Parul‘s ThursdayTreeLove.

Theobroma (ThursdayTreeLove)

Chocolate or cocoa is omnipresent in our lives. We use to as a gift or a treat or a comfort food or to reward ourselves or on a cheat day of a diet!

It is made from the fruit of the Theobroma cacao trees. Though an introduced speices in India it is widely cultivated in the state of Kerala.

Here are its flowers. You can read the entire post here.

Stopping in my tracks (ThursdayTreeLove)

How many times have you stopped or detoured just to see a tree? It often happens to me and my family are now used to my (apparently) random calls to stop the vehicle.

One such tree (more like a large shrub) caught my attention and stopped me in my tracks.

🙂

This was on the curvy winding roads of Munnar. The tree was the Spiky Powder Puff

aka Calliandra calothyrsus of the Mimosaceae family.

Here it is.

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop.

Click here to read more.

Talking Tree (ThursdayTreeLove)

We always wonder how many stories trees would have to share if only they could talk.

I came across this tree that does indeed tell a story and is in the town of Waterford in Wales.

Its a carving on a 23 foot long entire Douglas Fir tree that was uprooted in a storm.

My images do no justice but will definitely give you an idea.

Click here to read the entire post and relevant information links!

This post is part of Parul ‘s bloghop!

Tree Course (ThursdayTreeLove)

Here is yet another wonderful Tree Course.. oops.. I mean Golf Course .. from Pune.

Enjoying the trees at the course is one of the main reasons for me to accompany my husband for Golf.

You see see more images here.

This row of Ficus is the star attraction IMO. One of them has fallen but continues to flourish.

Please click here to see more images of this Golf Course.

In case you face difficulties in leaving your comments, please click here. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

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

Zoological Survey of India


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!

The Zoological Survey of India was set up in 1916 and India Post issued a commemorative stamp to celebrate its centenary year. With a denomination of 25 INR, it depicts a dense forest and wildlife therein. It may not strictly match my theme, but then, today is the last post, and Z is a difficult alphabet … I am sure you will love this stamp and accept my choice! 🙂

Post of India, GODL-India https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Gazette_Notification_OGDL.pdf, via Wikimedia Commons

In the same vein, here is a 1990- issued stamp of denomination 2 INR about the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. It shows blades of Wheat. Wheat is an important crop in the country and our diet. Wheat is Triticum aestivum of the Poaceae family.

Post of India, GODL-India https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Gazette_Notification_OGDL.pdf, via Wikimedia Commons

In 2002, on the occasion of the “8th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, New Delhi: Mangroves” four stamps with images of four different Magrove species were issued. And I do find a couple of Z there!


😉

Jokes apart, I thought it is important to include Mangroves considering the threats they currently face. The four species are Brugeria gymnorrhiza, Sonneratia alba, Nypa fruiticans and Rhizophora mucronata.  

Brugueria gymnorhiza
Rhizophora mucronata

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.  

This is the last post of the 2022 April AtoZ. Its been great having you here. Thank you one and all for your support and encouragement!
I will post details in the Reflections post in a couple of days. 
Do keep visiting this space. It will be wonderful to hear your thoughts.
Stay Happy! Stay Healthy!Â