Tag: Nature’s delights

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Mad Tree (ThursdayTreeLove)

Our guide very apologetically said, “This is the Mad Tree”. I was stunned. In whatever little bit I have read about trees and their names, I had never come across this one.. 


It was a wonderful tree, with a graceful buttress and showed nothing that would have earned it this title of being ‘Mad’. 


In any tree, all leaves have the same shape but in this case, no two leaves are identical. This is said have earned it this name. It grows in the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Botanical Garden in Kolkata and is the Buddha’s Coconut or Pterygota alata . 

Its an evergreen species native to India and grows to be very tall. A beautiful stately tree. 


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

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Summer Cooler (ThursdayTreeLove)

Pune is blessed to have several hills located right inside the city itself. They are its lungs as it were and are the pride and joy of the locals. Most of the trees growing here are the deciduous type and the hot scorching months of summer see them reduced to their bare branches. 



One of the only trees giving respite from the brown and golden shades is the Morinda pubescens locally called Bartondi of the Rubiaceae family. It is an evergreen tree and its green velvety leaves are a sight for sore eyes! May is also the month when this tree blossoms and the small star-shaped whitish flowers announce the tree’s presence long before one can spot it! 
The fruit is peculiar and seems to have many facets!

Yet another give-away is the rough crocodile bark that the tree sports. 

Despite their fragrance, thankfully, these flowers are not woven into garlands. Thankful because it avoids irresponsible stripping of the tree. This is a great summer cooler especially on the morning walks during summer!

Its among my favourite indigenous species. 

Do you have a favourite tree? Or more than one favourite?
🙂
Stay happy folks!

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some amazing trees from around the world!
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The Great Banyan (ThursdayTreeLove)

Today I am taking the easy way out an recycling an earlier post… Maybe some of you have already read it but I will take my chances… 


I had read about two really huge Ficus trees – one at a place called Pemgiri in Maharashtra and one in the botanical garden in Kolkata. I had seen one with a massive spread in Puducherry as well. 


Today’s post is dedicated to a 250 year old Ficus tree growing at the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden in Kolkata. The 1786-founded garden has a vast collection of lovely old trees. The main attraction is the Great Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) that is supported by  thousands of roots and is spread over five acres. Despite its loss of the main trunk in 1925, the Banyan is still ‘growing’ . The authorities have had to increase the protective perimeter built around it as the tree ‘walked’ eastwards!

Here are some images of The Great Banyan.








It stands on thousands of supporting roots


This video will give take you straight to this great tree.. 

Have you seen this beautiful tree? Do you know of any other large spread Banyan? 


I am joining Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove41 blog hop. Do head over to see some amazing trees from around the world!

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