

A khatta-meetha take on life around me through my presbiopic eyes!
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!
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.
Flowering of the Bauhinia racemosa is in the months of February – May and here is an image of its flowers.
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.
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It stands on thousands of supporting roots
This video will give take you straight to this great tree..
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I am sure you will agree that this candidate is highly suitable for being called the 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 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!
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Oplismenes |
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Lophopogon sp |
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Chloris sp |
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Chrysopogon sp |
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Apluda sp |
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Themeda sp |
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Pennisetum sp |
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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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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.
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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….
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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Breathing Roots |
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Canopy walk at the Interpretation Centre |
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Cottages at the resort |
We spent two entire days on the boat. Actually three if you add up two half days as well. Our day began early at 6 am as we boarded our mist-shrouded boat – the northerly winds were the cause said Mr Paul the resort manager. We spent the entire day on board, returning only at dusk. Our guides Nabho and Krishna joined us here. Both were very knowledgeable about fauna and flora. IMHO , info about the latter is often ignored by most naturalist guides but these two were a pleasant surprise. Seeing my interest in trees, they specifically pointed out special species, their distinguishing features etc using the correct scientific terminology.
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A spread fit for a king! |
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Tiger Palms growing along the bank |
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A local troupe performed the legend of the Bonbibi |
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Forbidden lanes… |
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A mammoth Estuarine Crocodile Image Credit Rahul Rao , Director at Foliage Outdoors, Pune |
Peregrine Falcon? Croc? Dolphin? Pugmarks? Tiger? were the anxious queries as all binocs turned to one direction. Cameras clicked furiously till the object of attention decided he had enough of us! The Kingfishers including the Brown Winged were the most obliging and tourist friendly I must say!
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Black Capped Kingfisher Image Credit Rahul Rao, Director at Foliage Outdoors, Pune |
And how can I forget the Lesser Whistling Ducks who gave us a glorious farewell.. I think there must have been thousands of them along with Northern Pintails and Northern Shovellers swimming in tandem as if escorting our boat out…
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Lesser Whistling Ducks Image Credit Rahul Rao, Director at Foliage Outdoors, Pune |
This post is incomplete without a couple of lines from the book The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh…
‘…This is a land half-submerged at high tide: it is only in falling that the water gives birth to the forest, To look upon this strange parturition, midwived by the moon is the know why the name “tide country” is not just right but necessary…..’