Tag: Nature’s delights

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Cannon Ball Tree (ThursdayTreeLove)

Kailaspati, Lecyhidaceae, Couroupita

This beautiful tree with glorious fragrant flowers growing out of its main trunk goes by the unlikely common name “Cannon Ball Tree”. This is due to its large round fruit resembling cannon balls.  Its botanical name is Couroupita guianensis and the species has been introduced in India. The tree belongs to the Lecythidaceae family. 

The flowers are uniquely shaped almost like a Shivalinga. Hence the tree also goes by the common name Kailaspati. When plucked, the highly fragrant pretty flower stays fresh in a bowl of water for a day. 




In sharp contrast, the fruit is filled with a foul smelling substance. If you look closely, some fruit are visible and seem to be strung on the trunk. If one of them falls on someone’s head, it can cause an injury! 

Kailaspati is native to the Amazon rainforest but seems to be happy in India considering its gregarious flowering and fruiting! It grows to be quite tall and is an imposing sight!


I am joining Parul‘s #ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some wonderful trees from around the world!

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Twisted Trunk (ThursdayTreeLove)

Tree trunk, IUCCA, SPPU
Twisted trunk

What could have been the reason for this twisted tree trunk? Considering its pretty huge and old, and growing in the open, I am sure the curves must be natural.


One of my first posts on the ThursdayTreeLove was Sleeping Trees that I saw in Moscow. Just as I could not figure out the reason for those ‘sleeping’ trunks, I simply cant find an explanation for this.


Here is another image.






Bonsai artists often ‘wire’ trees for which they face a lot of criticism. Surely no such intervention was done here. Yet the trunk has acquired wonderful curves that simply will stop you in your tracks.


What do you think?


I am joining Parul in her #ThursdayTreeLove39 bloghop. Do head over to see some amazing trees from around the world. 

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Curves and Lines (ThursdayTreeLove)

Palm, Unusual tree, Pune

This tree has literally got my attention each and every time I pass by. So much so that I have to be cautioned to pay attention to traffic as it is located on my cycle route! 


It is a Palm and quite and old one I think. For some reason, it has this twisted trunk. I can only speculate why this may have happened. Some storm perhaps. Or maybe there used to be some other structure there and the tree for some reason chose to grow around it…


Whatever maybe the case, its curves and lines are striking! Agree?


I am joining Parul in her #ThursdayTreeLove38 blog hop. Do head over to see some amazing trees from around the world. Better still, join in! 

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Golden Leaves (ThursdayTreeLove)

My tree for today stands out green in the dry deciduous jungle .. its quite inconspicuous otherwise and easy to miss unless one looks carefully.. Its the Apta tree .. In Maharashtra, family members exchange Apta leaves on day of Vijayadashami or Dusshera. Going by the botanical name of Bauhinia racemosa, it belongs to the Caesalpinia family (Gulmohor family).  I have seen it growing on the Pune hills but not in the city itself. 




The Apta tree possibly grows  just upto 5m tall and its characteristic feature is the bilobed leaf shaped like the hoofs of a cow.  

                                    

When folded the leaflets cover each other perfectly as you can see in the video below. Infact, its this very feature that has given the genus Bauhina – to honor the twin botanist brothers Johann Bauhin and Casper Bauhin. 


Flowering of the Bauhinia racemosa is in the months of February – May and here is an image of its flowers.


I am not sure of the exact origins of the practise of exchanging Apta leaves. These days, people have to buy the leaves which means rampant defoliation of all trees with such bilobed leaves like Kanchan. Those who cannot distinguish between the different Bauhinia species end up buying the other leaves. End result, the trees suffer terribly. 

A ‘cousin’ of this species, the Kachnar is quite common as a roadside tree and in gardens. I am sure you will have noticed its flamboyant pink blossoms. Next time, notice its bilobed leaves too and remember the ‘golden’ leaves of Apta!

I am joining Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove37. Do head over to see some amazing trees from around the world. 
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K for King

Welcome! 
We are with the 2018 April AtoZ Blogging challenge and its my fifth attempt. For those who missed it, here is the link to my Theme Reveal post. Do the alphabets still stand for the same things we learnt about in Nursery school? 


Its day eleven and the alphabet is K.


K is for King. As in the guy who wears a crown and sits on a throne.


Can something else also be called a King? The Lion is said to be the King of the jungle. Recently I had posted a Ficus Bonsai that was displayed in full royal style.


Today I have yet another candidate for the post of King.


Its a 250 year old Ficus tree that is 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.. 

I am sure you will agree that this candidate is highly suitable for being called the King!
🙂

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G for Grass



Welcome! 
We are with the 2018 April AtoZ Blogging challenge and its my fifth attempt. For those who missed it, here is the link to my Theme Reveal post. Do the alphabets still stand for the same things we learnt about in Nursery school? 

Its day seven and the alphabet is G.


G is for Goat. That is what I distinctly remember being taught. 
But then, goats eat grass. 
And grass was one of my theme ideas. So I sort of took the liberty and replaced the goat with grass.
🙂


Grasses belong the Poaceae family which a very large and very economically important family of the plant kingdom. Important because this family provides the staple foods that we eat, material for construction etc. Grasses are found almost everywhere and are generally annual or perennial in nature. My teacher cautioned me that grasses can be properly identified only when they grow flowers and that too using a hand lens or under a microscope. Which means, many of the grasses I have seen will remain unnamed.. 


Not to worry folks, this will not be a botanical post.
Here are some of the beautiful grass flowers. 


And do watch out for them the next time you go out for your walk!

Oplismenes 



Lophopogon sp







Chloris sp
Chrysopogon sp
Apluda sp



Themeda sp



Pennisetum sp
Setaria sp

This is just a glimpse into the great world of grasses.. 


Tomorrow is our first holiday of the blogathon. We return on the 9th with the alphabet H.

Cheers!
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Its That Time Of The Year

Its that time of the year again… winter is almost forgotten as the burning sun makes its presence felt. Grass and herbs dried out from last year, crunch under the feet as one tries to keep a brisk pace on the morning walk on the tekdi. The eyes scan the usual favourites hoping to spot blooms and I am not disappointed.

Shirish beckons with its sweet fragrance and fresh foliage. Yellow rattling pods from last year still hang from the branches and the tree stands out from a distance. 

The Gardenia turgida is sprouting its first buds …

and the Neem is happy showing off its tiny flowers too…


These yellow flowers stand out on the bare plateau, amid the ashes of the burnt grass..

The small Capparis blossoms cloak the shrubby tree in a white coat!

The Ganer and Waras are still painting the tekdi golden and cream amid the fading pink of the Gliricidia. 

Waras flower

The white tufts of the Dregea volubilis line the pathways even as I wait for the Kusumb to blush red as it realises its branches are bare.

The lucky ones may even spot the Peacock!

Its March on the tekdi and the trees are beckoning…
Where are you??

Out on the streets, the trees are bedecked in their floral glory The golden blaze of the Tabebuia easily overshadows its pink cousin. This even as the Jacaranda casts a soothing blue haze over the horizon and blue carpet at your feet. New leaves of the Moha blush as its blossoms look down upon earthlings. The Mango is in full bloom … Does it foretell a sweet May? 


I wonder….

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Central Witness (ThursdayTreeLove)

NH4, Pune, Ficus, Tree



Many a times have I seen this tree growing on the median of the NH4 from Pune towards Satara. It seems to be a very old tree considering its size despite the heavy traffic on both sides of the road. I am really happy that whoever built this road chose to retain the tree during road construction – or could it be that it grew after the road was ready?


Whatever the case may be, considering its strategic location, the plant must have seen thousands and thousands of folks pass by, possibly travelling on a holiday, for work, some happy, some not so happy… If it could communicate with us, it would have some wonderful stories to share. 


This one seems to be a Ficus species. The almost perfect dome shaped canopy must offer cooling shade but its not a place were one can stop to rest!! 


I have spotted many such trees at other spots on this highway and other highways as well— a central witness to the progress of the region…


This post is part of Parul‘s #ThursdayTreeLove34. Do head over to see some amazing trees from around the world!

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