Nature’s delights – Page 23

15/02/201521/07/2020

Spring is here!

This morning I chose a different route for my morning walk. And lo behold! Spring was evident at everywhere! Vasantrutu (वसंत ऋतु ) is there to be seen and the plants and trees are putting on a flamboyant display. Dont miss this once a year celebration! Here are some images though they do no justice to the real thing.
(Follow the links to learn more about the trees)

Vallaris creeper

A carpet of fragrant Vallaris flowers on the road

The golden Tabebuia makes an appearance

Petrea

The Flame of the Forest

As they say, be humble, look down and the fallen leaves, flowers, fruit, twigs from the trees will tell you something! Look! Listen! Enjoy!

09/02/201521/07/2020

Batting for bats

Bats
are something that usually inspire fear or create revulsion among all (or
most)of us. I did not really spare them much thought except on our long walks
on a disused taxi track where we used to see huge bats (recognisable due to
their typical wings) flying across the runway. More recently a group of bats
relocated to a tree outside my balcony which is when I took a keen interest.
Would they be dangerous? Will they accidentally enter my home? And so on…
Luckily they flew away before I hit the panic button.

Thus, I could not miss on a ‘bat spotting walk’ organised by Virasat Pune conducted
by Dr Vishakha Korade who has done her PhD in Bats! Here is what I
learnt.

A colony of bats seen handing from Kinhai trees

Fruit
bats (aka Flying fox) are vegetarian and this was the species that was near my
home. (This is what I inferred from some of her answers to my queries). They
roost on tall trees with sparse foliage (we saw them hanging upside down on
Eucalyptus and Kinhai trees) and fly out at dusk and return at about 5AM. They
feed on fruits (specially of the Ficus genus) and other plant parts as well except roots and stem. The
digestion process in bats increases the chances of germination of the seeds in
the fruit they eat. These seeds are disbursed in their excreta hence the bats
are an important part of the ecosystem. They also help pollinate some plants
species (about 400 e.g. Kigelia africana, Adansonia
digitata). According to Dr Korade, while many urban people fear bats,
people in villages refer to them as Laxmi (as in the goddess)! I guess they
understand the position of bats in the ecosystem more than us city folk! Fruit
bats have fair vision and find their food etc using their eyesight and
olfaction.Contrary to belief, fruit bats do not use eco-location.

Smaller
insectivorous Evening bats (called पाकोळया
in Marathi) produce twins about thrice a year but they are lost to predation
and the total number often does not increase. These bats look like swifts and
can be seen about 15 minutes after sunset. They may share a shelter with swifts
too. Evening bats use eco-location to find their food.

There is a species called Vampire bats that feed on blood (usually of cattle). They secrete an anticoagulant when they bite the animals and then feed on it. These can also regurgitate the ingested material to feed young ones left behind or those unable to fly out. There is a type of ‘false vampire bat’ that is found in Asia.

Bats
have a weak pelvic girdle and lower limb muscles and do not ‘stand’ on legs like
humans. Being mammals, they give birth to live young ones. Fruit bats produce
one offspring every year (after about a two month gestation). The young ones may be carried on the bellies for some time. Bats are a
reservoir of many types of virus and may be carriers of Rabies, Ebola. They usually
are not dangerous to humans but may spread disease if people consume plant
produce contaminate with bat fluids (e.g. toddy collected from trees). Their
bodies are geared for an upside down life. Here is a link to some info about the bodies of bats.

In
recent times, bats may have gained some popularity due to the popular book
series by Stephenie Meyer. However I was pleasantly surprised at this session to
see kids ask several intelligent questions. I guess India does have a bright
future, provided they stay and work here of course not fly off to foreign
lands…

The number of fruit bats in the colony we saw is dwindling which can be a cause for alarm as an important member of the ecosystem will be lost. Loss of their habitat could be a reason. Indiscrimiate cutting of trees has to be stopped.

Its important to keep learning something new as its a big wide world and we would only have skimmed the surface!

What have you learned recently?

🙂

13/01/201521/07/2020

Glittering (Wordless Wednesdays)

Raindrops

30/12/201421/07/2020

Sunkissed (Wordless Wednesdays)

Cypress Trees Near The Golden Gate Bridge

25/10/201421/07/2020

Roots

The camera has become our constant companion both at home and outside. So whether one is cooking, eating, reading, travelling its easy to capture images to recall and relive memories later. My usual subjects arefriends and family (not surprising), myself (a new addition due to my new toy with a front facing camera!), trees, architecture and so on.

Yet I find that tree roots too have emerged as attention grabbers. Roots are what anchor a tree to the ground, collect water and other nutrients from the soil, at times are modified to breathe/give support as well. I would like to share some of these amazing roots with you.

Enjoy…
These are simply stunning. Tree roots at Angkor Wat. Do they support these ancient structures or do they damage the structure? To me it looks like the former!

Photo Credit: Col (Dr) Ram Athavale, Retd

Photo Credit: Col (Dr) Ram Athavale, Retd

Here is yet another example of roots offering some support… in the form of a bridge! This bridge has been created by living roots of the Ficus tree. Such bridges are seen in North East India. This photo has been sourced from Getty Images

#171760581 / gettyimages.com

Artist Steve Robin has envisaged and created the following bronze sculpture using inspiration of the roots of the large sycamore tree in the St Paul’s Chapel in New York that was damaged due to debris from the 9/11 World Trade Tower collapse. Read more about it here.

‘Trinity Root’ Patinated Bronze by Steve Tobin. Seen at St Paul’s Chapel, New York

Stunning roots of a huge Cupressus macrocarpa. Seen in San Francisco

Roots of this Ficus at Pondicherry have spread out to form columns. This tree is at Auroville, India.
Photo Credit: @puneribaker

Rootage of a 200 year old Silk Cotton Tree seen at the Lal Bagh, Bangalore

Photo Credit: @puneribaker

The vertical Cypress
knees or Pneumatophores of the Taxodium distichum (Bald cypress) jut upwards from the soil. Some theories state they help the tree get oxygen but
some trees have thrived even after the cypress knees were removed. Other
theories propose that they play the role of supporting the tree.

Cypress knees or Pneumatophores of the Taxodium distichum (Bald cypress). This image from South Carolina, USA

Thin delicate aerial roots of the Ficus microcarpa, help distinguish it from other Ficus brethren whose aerial roots may be thicker and coarser. This tree is in Pune, India

This
is mostly of learning value to me as I was under the wrong impression
that only Ficus species produced aerial roots. This tree is the
Metrosideros excelsa (New Zealand Christmas Tree) which belongs to the Myrtaceae family. This tree is from the San Fransisco Botanical Garden

Nebari of my Kamini bonsai!

If you have enjoyed this, you are sure to like my post about amazing barks …

Take care!

07/10/201421/07/2020

Flowers and Leaves (Wordless Wednesdays)

Maple

01/10/201421/07/2020

Wild Guava (Wordless Wednesdays)

Careya arborea (Kumbha)

21/09/201421/07/2020

The Hills Are Alive

My city is blessed to have many hills right within the city limits. Many have flat land at the top and one can walk for a long distance even upto 10 kms (depending on your route). This is especially amazing because this walk gives a feeling of being ‘above’ the city yet a part of it. In the city yet a feeling of being outside.

The hill overlooks Baner and Pashan and one can see the city skyline stretching as far as the eye can see

Any one who has been to these tekdis (hills) will totally agree with me. I had not visited the Baner Tukai tekdi and eagerly took up an opportunity to visit it.

Like most tekdis in Pune, this one too suffered from deforestation and must have been really bare. It has been the ceaseless and untiring efforts of Dr Garudkar and the Clean Earth Movement that is showing its fruits now. Here is a link to their website.The group has been active since 2006.

The almost flat top is perfect for long walks

The Baneshwar caves are located at the foot of the hill. As one ascends the steps one is immediately struck by the extent of the city’s growth, the spread of concrete jungle almost into the hills. Yet, look up and one can see the green flat top of the tekdi as it meanders away into the distance. Get off the steps and follow the foot trails to enjoy the greenery. The tekdi spans a vast area hence has been ‘divided’ into different sectors named after forests of Maharashtra. The naming is purely for the sake of convenience of the activists working there.

These caves are located at the foot of the hill and have a Shiva temple

The ‘map’ of the hill area

The activists have built such tanks to store water for the trees.

Here
are some highlights of the Baner Tukai tekdi. If you happen to live in
the area, do join the group and help nurture the trees, and keep the
‘lungs’ of the city healthy and green!

Dhobi nut tree, Bibba, Pune, Anacardiaceae

This Bibba tree was flowering (Semecarpus anacardium)

Caesalpinia bonduc, Caesalpineaceae, Pune

Sagargota (Caesalpinia bonduc) inflorescence- the tree is armed with thorns on all parts

Pune, trees, Gmelina arborea, Verbenaceae

Shivan (Gmelina arborea) was seen growing at many sites.

Besides these, many other tree species had been planted and seemed to be pretty healthy. Some which I identified were several Ficus species, Neem, Arjun, Laxmi Taru (Simarouba glauca), varieties of Bauhinia, Prajakta, Awala, Waval.

The flowers that grabbed all our attention despite their small size (and by small I mean half a finger nail) were the seasonal herbs. They were in full bloom and created yellow and purple carpets on the hill side, almost reminiscent of the Kas Pathar. We saw Hyptis suaveolens (with Tulsi-like-fragrant leaves), Sida species, Trichodesma sp, Sopubia sp, Alysicarpus sp, Stryka sp, Sonchus sp and many many more that we could not identify. There were some lichens too!

Yellow Tribulus terrestris

A purple-pink carpet of Cyanotis species

The hills in Pune are at their full glory right now. Go enjoy!

28/08/201421/07/2020

Tedious Yet Satisfying!

An important part of Ganapati celebrations at home is preparing the offerings. Besides the usual retinue of flowers and garlands, the Pooja includes offerings of leaves of different types (generally referred to as Patri). Offerings of Patri is a topic which demands a separate post (read more in this article from The Hindu) and this post focuses on one particular type that is Durva (दुर्वा) .

The Durva to be offered is the tender shoot of grass with only three terminal blades including the new shoot. Usually a bunch of 5,11 or 21 Durva are offered. Panicum dactylon, Imperata cylindrica, Desmostachya bipinnata and Cynodon dactylon are some grass species identified as sacred grass.

In bygone days, possibly each and every household had a garden or at least a place where people could visit to pluck Durva. So-called development in urban Indian cities has created a concrete jungle with almost no gardens. The only source for Durva is the market where one can buy bunches of grass, which cannot really be offered to the God. Ideally the grass should be sorted out, almost akin to picking out leaves from a bunch of Fenugreek leaves! Its not a good idea to think about the origins of the grass, who or what has walked over it. One can simply wash the ready Durva before offering it to Ganesh.

It took me almost four hours to sort a bunch of grass into Durva for offering.

Each Durva is carefully separated into a steel plate

Each twig has to be carefully examined and cut out at the
correct spot (so only the terminal three shoots are present). At this
stage the twig must be handled very carefully else a blade may break off
which means the Durva cannot be used.