Nature’s delights – Page 14

23/08/201721/07/2020

This massive apparently dry tree is none other than the Baobab (Adansonia digitata) of the Bombacaceae family. It simply demanded attention and the three of us holding hands together to form a chain could not completely encircle its girth!

Its startling feature is a thick trunk and combined with the palmate leaves, identification is fairly simple. The trunk stores water and the tree loses all its leaves during the dry seasons. The flowers are white and bell shaped and bloom at night. They are most likely to be bat-pollinated.

Baobabs are found in several parts of the world. I have spotted three in Pune but the photo above is from a place called Menavali near Wai in Maharashtra.

The tree can grow to be really really old and the hollow massive trunk of one such tree in Zimbabwe is said to be able to shelter 40 people! Whoa!!

In his book ‘Videshi Vruksha’, Prof SD Mahajan mentions a Baobab in Hyderabad that has a diameter of 5 m and is referred to as ‘हाथियों का पेड”. There is grove of several Baobab trees near Mandu in Madhya Pradesh as well.

In fact, the Baobab finds a mention in the list of Baobab species in the Landmark Trees of India. Though an introduced species in our country, it seems to have flourished here to the extent that it seems like an indigenous species.

Here is an image of an old Baobab in Pune that grows in the Savitribai Phule Pune University. The tree had collapsed since the trunk was hollowed by some infestion but as you can see, it had not died… The image is not very clear, but it does give a general idea.

Have you seen a Baobab tree? Is there one growing in your city?

I am participating in Parul’s photo initiative #ThurdayTreeLove. This is my contribution to #ThursdayTreeLove20

27/07/201723/09/2021

Fallen ( #ThursdayTreeLove)

Walking along the almost pristine beach at Elephant Island near Port Blair, my path was blocked by this massive gnarled tree. Its bare whitish bark exuded a strange beauty that competed fiercely with the blue hues of the sea. The thickness and length of its trunk suggested it had seen several summers. While the locals did not seem to know its name, it could have been Manilkara littoralis or the Sea Mohua but this is just a guess… The beach had several such specimens that I later found, the effects of the Tsunami perhaps?? It continues to awe despite having fallen….

One of the local names of the Sea Mohua is Andaman Bullet Wood. The name Mohua first reminded me of the familiar Mahua and both these belong to the same family Sapotaceae (Chikoo family).

Here is another image of the same tree (trees) on another beach. It gives an idea of how they tower over us!

I am participating in Parul’s photo initiative #ThursdayTreeLove. This is my contribution to #ThursdayTreeLove-19

12/07/201721/07/2020

Puncture Vine (Wordless Wednesday)

05/07/201721/07/2020

Red (Wordless Wednesday)

28/06/201721/07/2020

Suns and Lovers

I have always had a collection of plants in my home and wherever possible, a garden. Some species owed their presence in my collection to glorious foliage but Jasmine has always been a constant, despite unremarkable leaves and flowering limited to a few months of the year. The reason is quite simple, its haunting powerful fragrance.

Mogra as its commonly known in Marathi, blooms gregariously in the summer months provided the plant is growing in a spot with abundant sunlight. One particular year, there were hardly any flowers and it was only later that I pinned down the cause to the Sun. Or rather the lack of sunlight. Which means that blazing heat is necessary for a good harvest yet the fragrance of the blossoms is the maximum at night when its the Moon that rules.

When in full bloom, they can be spotted from afar at night not only by the heady fragrance but also from the flowers that seem to glow in the dark. Yet when touched by the first rays of the Sun, they drop off to create a glorious carpet on the roads below.

Other equally fragrant varieties like Bakul (Mimusops elengii), Buch (Millingtonia hortensis) and Parijatak (Nyctanthes arbor-tristis) also exhibit such contrarian behaviour.

Here is a strange story from this league of Suns and Lovers.. its about the Parijatak

Long long ago, there was a princess called Parijata. She fell in love with the Sun God.
From here on, I have come across two versions of their love story. The first one is that since her love is not reciprocated the Princess commits suicide. A Tree grew at that spot which is known as the Parijata. Its beautiful flowers have a blazing red dot in the centre, representative of the Sun.

In the other version, Surya, the Sun God agreed to marry provided she never turned away from him. This is said to have happened in the Autumn. They led a blissful married life till the seasons changed and the power of the Sun started increasing. The Princess would find it difficult to be near the Sun. On one such such hot noon, the Princess Parijata flinched momentarily in front of Surya. His wrath caused her to die. A repentant Sun, sought the help of Gods, who knowing his true love for Parijata, granted her another life as a tree. Surya visits her at night. These sun kissed flowers rejoice in the night, but drop off at day break unable to bear the sun’s rays.