Tag: Nature’s delights

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Autumn Colours (ThursdayTreeLove)

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower” – Albert Camus

Looking at Autumn or Fall colours is a right on top of my Tree Travel wish lists.. I have always just got a glimpse of the glorious foliage never really catching the plants in their full Fall Glory.

As the above quote says, each leaf dons a spectacular unique colour that truly makes it look like a flower.

Here are a few images from my travels.. I am looking forward to the day when I can see the Fall Colours with my own eyes.. sigh…. Till then, I look forward to the TTL posts from around the world in the next couple of month..

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

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Yellow (ThursdayTreeLove)

The almost mandatory photo stop in my daily walk!

What do you first see in this image? I know you will say trees.. we are on ThursdayTreeLove after all!! And you are right!!

Normally I would have admired the clouds or the view but this time the yellow blaze caught my eye. So much so that I walked an extra 500m to reach this tree.

No identification puzzles this time.

There grew a row of Peltophorum pterocarpum and all were in bloom. Their blazing yellow flowers were the head turners that day. This tree belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family and is known as Copper Pod Tree. It is a common avenue tree in Pune and its dense green foliage is made up of pretty feather like leaves . Its fragrant flowers give way to rusty red pods hence the local name Copper Pod tree. The Peltophorum looks wonderful in bloom as well as when full of these coppery pods.

Flowers and Fruit
Not native to Pune, yet the species is happy in the city with profuse flowering and fruiting every year.

As I said, this is mostly an avenue tree which means one cannot really sit under its dense cool shade or enjoy its fragrance … It is all in a days work for the Peltophorum to lay out a yellow carpet for morning walkers..

A yellow carpet .. image from a few years ago

Have you seen this majestic tree and enjoyed the fragrance of its blooms?

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

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Amazing Ochna (Wordless Wednesday)

Its finally rained in Pune and my Ochna is welcoming it whole heartedly!

Here are its blooms .. used my phone-friendly macro lens after a long time!

Early morning!
Half an hour later
Close up
Amazing!
Yesterdays’s flower
Raindrops!
That is not a bud! Its a flower from a week ago.. the sepals of the pollinated flower, close and turn red and then bloom again after a few weeks! The yellow flower is now a red ‘flower’!
The red sepals open to reveal the seeds! The seed is green initially and turns black later. The entire flower show lasts for over a month! (This is an earlier photo)

I am sure you loved these flowers as much as I enjoyed sharing with you.

I am joining Natasha in her Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

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Brush (ThursdayTreeLove)

A visit to the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Botanical Garden in Kolkata was at the end of our trip to the Sunderbans. It was a botanically wondrous trip to say the least! The Garden itself is huge and home to unique trees like the famous Banyan. 


Here is another tree that I met for the first and only time! A beautiful red brush like structure beckoned me from a distance and located as it was amid leaves had me immediately thinking of the Shaving Brush tree (Pseudobombax ellipticum) which does grow in Pune. However when I went closer, the tree looked different especially its leaves. It was end of January and the digitate glossy green leaves suggested a different ID. 

Seen from afar

Luckily for me, the placard saved me the trouble and I could freely admire the Pachira aquatica without any stress of identification. It belongs to the Bombacaceae family just like the Shaving Brush Tree which explained the similarity in the flowers. Also known as Malabar Chestnut tree it is an introduced species in India. I loved its flowers which are nothing like those used for table decorations or bouquets. 

Flower and Fruit
Leaves


Have you seen this wonderful tree? When in Kolkata please do make time for the botanical garden! 
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove Blog hop. Do head over to see some wonderful trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

Tree Trunk
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Glorious Gulmohor (ThursdayTreeLove)

May is peak summer in Pune. 
Its also the time for the May Flower! 
Its blossoms have a soothing effect despite the brilliant red… a colour that is usually associated with heat.


This is a beautiful Gulmohor tree growing on my regular walk route. Here it is..


From a distance.. looks like the rising Sun on the horizon!



Walking closer to the tree

Overlooking its huge canopy

Brilliant 

Another view

Beautiful Flowers

Gulmohor belongs to the Caesalpiniaceae family and is known all over the world by its botanical name of Delonix regia. The tree is an exotic species in India but is very common in all over the country especially as an avenue tree. It has a shallow root system which means trees tend to fall after a spell of heavy rains.


Some objections to this species (as its not indigenous) is that our birds do not nest on it; birds, insects and animals do not eat its fruit or nectar as food. 
However I feel that its foliage gives us much needed oxygen and cooling shade. 


What do you think? 


Either way, May is the most glorious month for the Gulmohor! 

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in! 

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Thank You Trees (ThursdayTreeLove)



Thank You! 


Due to the Covid19 lockdown, stores were open only for a couple of hours in Pune. 10am to Noon. People had to stand in a queue in designated spots to buy their needs. 

Every shop had such circles marked out where customers had to queue up.. 


April is a pretty hot time of the year for us. Which means, this wait would have been really hot and trying if it were not for these wonderful trees by the roadside.


It did not matter if the trees were exotic, indigenous, flowering, fruiting, … they gave a welcome cooling shade for the folks below waiting patiently for their turn. 


Thanks to the folks who planted these trees maybe two or three decades ago and we can now reap the benefits! 

“One generation plants the trees, another gets the shade”- Chinese Proverb

I am sure all of you must have noticed and enjoyed the trees in your lane or your society in the lockdown period! 


I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

Stay home folks and stay safe! 

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Wispy (ThursdayTreeLove)

Indigenous, Tekdi, Lannea
We pass by this tree almost daily and February is the month when its most eye catching due to the wispy branch ends. It has shed its leaves sometime in November and bursts into these delicate inflorescence in February (usually). 
Here is a cropped image..

It is locally called as Moi or Lannea coromandelica

Here is closer look at the flowers.. 

Dont they remind you of the Mango blossoms? That’s because both belong to the same family Anacardiaceae. 
Soon these flowers develop into fruit.

Moi is an indigenous species and common in hills of Pune and there are a specimens that grow in the city as well. I have seen it in Pondicherry and even in Tadoba. It can be easily identified by its ashy mottled trunk and lovely leaves. Today, I dont have a leaf photo for you. May be a couple of months later when the tree bursts into foliage.


Pune hills have seen umpteen tree plantation drives.. and I have noticed that Moi is among the few that does well. 


Have you noticed this tree in your city? Or its wispy flowers?


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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