Spice of Life! – Page 6 – A khatta-meetha take on life around me through my presbiopic eyes!

05/04/202205/04/2022

Dillenia indica

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.

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 and so on.. It is amazing!

D has a unique flower namely Dillenia indica of the Dilleniaceae family. It is a native tree and the large downward facing fragrant flowers are quite uniquely shaped. Its leaves are very beautiful being dark green, with a serrate margin and deeply impressed veins. While earlier, it is was not very common in Pune, now I see is very often in gardens and even roadsides.

Here is an image of its leaf and flower from my collection.

Here is the stamp with the lovely Dillenia flower on it. It was issued in 2005 and its denomination is 5 INR. Category: Commemorative (Flora and Fauna of North East India)

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

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.

Do visit tomorrow for some more beautiful plants on stamps.

Till then, Take Care and Stay Happy!

04/04/202205/04/2022

Cassia fistula

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 and the focus is on plants.

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.

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 and so on.. It is amazing!

Cassia fistula is also called Golden Shower/ Amaltas/Bahava and is a native species. Its wood is useful but the main attraction are the glorious flowers that hang down in beautiful yellow racemes. The name Golden Shower is most apt. They lead to long green cylindrical pods that turn dark over time. Amalatas are widely planted in gardens and on roadsides.

C has two very beautiful trees on the stamps. Cassia fistula of the Caesalpiniaceae family and Crateva adansonii of the Capparaceae family. Here are the two stamps issued in 1981 of denomination 1INR and 50np

The India Postage Stamps website has a complete catalogue of stamps. Please click the link to see many many wonderful stamps.

Do visit tomorrow for some more beautiful plants on stamps.

Till then, Take Care and Stay Happy!

02/04/202231/03/2022

Bougainvillea

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.

B was an easy alphabet and India Post has stamps depicting the Butea monosperma, Bauhinia variegata and Bougainvillea glabra. Bougainvillea belong to the Nyctanginaceae family and are climbers. However they can be grown as a hedge and also in pots. In fact, Bougainvillea make excellent Bonsai.

The species is named after Louis de Bougainvillea, an explorer and Admiral from France who brought this plant to Europe from Brazil.

1985 had two different stamps commemorative stamps of the Bougainvillea denomination of 50np and 1 INR. Here is one of them.

The India Postage Stamps website has a complete catalogue of stamps. Please click the link to see many many wonderful stamps.

We come up to the first weekend of the blogging challenge.

See you all on Monday for the alphabet C.

Till then, Take care and Stay Happy!

01/04/202205/04/2022

Arisaema nepenthoides

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.

Without much ado, lets begin.

Arisaema nepenthoides belongs to the Araceae family and grows from tubers. Its flower or Inflorescence is a Spathe that looks like the hood of a cobra. This species grows at 2000-3000m altitude in eastern part of the Himalayan range. It blooms from April -June.

Other Arisaema varieties grow elsewhere in the country so you may have seen a variety of this plant.

Here is an image of the stamp

India Post has issued a Commemorative stamp under the Theme Flowers -Plants (Flora) of denomination 5 INR.

Yet another beautiful stamp is of Anacardium occidentale which is Cashew of the Anacardiaceae family.

Here is an image of Cashew flowers from my collection

The India Postage Stamps website has a complete catalogue of stamps. Please click the link to see many many wonderful stamps.

Do visit tomorrow for some more beautiful plants on stamps.

Till then, Take Care and Stay Happy!

24/03/202224/03/2022

Feast (ThursdayTreeLove)

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.

10/03/202210/03/2022

Campus Trees ( ThursdayTreeLove)

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.

**Possibly a Pine. The** ***quadruple trunk was fascinating!***

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.

***The dramatic white trunk and golden leaves were eye catching. Is it a Sycamore ???***

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!!

24/02/202225/02/2022

Root Pearls (ThursdayTreeLove)

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.

18/02/202223/06/2023

Tree Course (ThursdayTreeLove)

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!!

27/01/202224/02/2022

Multisensory Experience (ThursdayTreeLove)

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. 🙏🏻

13/01/202227/01/2022

A Tree And A Nursery Rhyme ( ThursdayTreeLove)

“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.

Heart shaped leaves with toothed margins. Some leaves are lobed.

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…)

Again, my photo does not show the massive trunk girth. It is a long walk to go around the tree.

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!