This tree was the first thing that caught my eye when I visited South Carolina. I was intrigued by the filament like structures growing on its branches and general ghostly appearance. The season was spring so I was expecting tender shoots or even flowers but this white ‘mane’ totally stumped me. As usual, I had a short list of common trees I was likely to see but this did not fit any description….
My sister in law informed me that these hanging filaments were Spanish Moss. Google helped with more information. Tillandsia usneoides is its botanical name belonging to the Bromeliaceae family and is found commonly growing on oak trees. Since my post is about trees, I shall not go into details about Tillandsia but you can look it up here.
Aha.. that took care of the mystery! What I was seeing was an Oak and what I thought as its leaves was actually another epiphytic plant growing on it.
Here is a close up where the Oak leaves are visible.
To this day, the Spanish Moss-festooned oak remains one of the most dramatic trees I have seen.
I am participating in Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove29. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world.
Ever so often we feel dwarfed when next to some tall structures (monuments, mountains etc) or figuratively when we hear profound thoughts or deeds. Yet another occassion is when faced with monumental trees. Today I want to describe one such.
We had seen this one at a temple in Manali and I felt really small standing under it. The view as I looked up is in the image below and I could not see the tree top from where I stood. The branches created a dense mesh of sorts that filtered the sunlight as it reached the ground.
According to the locals, this is a really old tree, a claim which was supported by its height and girth. The tree is the Devdar which goes by the botanical name Cedrus deodara from the Pinaceae family. The leaves are needle like and the tree bears cones and not regular fruit that we are familiar with.
There were several Devdars in Manali and in on the mountain slopes as well. Here is another one that I spotted. Its stem is twisted, I wonder why…..
The species is native to India and commonly found on the slopes of the western Himalayas.
Have you seen the mighty Devdar tree?
I am participating in Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove28. Head over to see some wonderful trees from around the world.
Well, I had heard of heritage structures, heritage walks, heritage conservation and so on but a heritage tree was something unique. Come to think of it why not considering that some trees live for hundreds of years…
In a perfect coincidence, my tree for the day is the Pilu or Salvadora persica which I have seen in the lawns of the Qutub Minar in Delhi. Our guide told us that this tree is really really old and the tree trunk showed its age. It belongs to the Salvadoraceae family and is also called Meswak.
There are several of these in the complex so do take a while to spot and admire then if you do visit Qutub Minar. They have gnarled trunks with elliptic to oblong leaves with entire margins and arranged oppositely on the stems. We were lucky to see the fruits that were really beautiful glassy looking red globule like structures.
Leaves
Fruits
One of the trees has this massive trunk which has some infestation
As you can see one of the trees has fallen possibly weakened by some infection or due to weather conditions
According to my field botany teachers, this tree is a mangrove associate so how come its flourishing in dry Delhi is a bit of a surprise to me.
Have you visited Qutub Minar? Have you spotted these trees?
I am participating in Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove27. Head over there to see some lovely trees from around the world.
This is the time of year in Pune when the beauty of morning walks is enhanced many fold due to the haunting sweet fragrance of the Indian Cork Tree aka ‘Buccha’ (बु च्च ). The roads are carpeted with waxy tube like flowers every morning which demand us to look up at the tree. I never tire of seeing the inflorescence which looks like falling stars!! Notice the flowers in the accompanying images!!
Universally known as Millingtonia hortensis of the Bignoniaceae family this tree grows straight up and fairly tall. In fact, it grows in many parts of India so many of you will easily recognise this species if not the name of the tree. The genus Millingtonia is in honour of the English botanist Thomas Millington and Buccha is the only species of the genus. They are night blooming and are at their most fragrant in the night and early mornings. I have not seen fruit formation in my city but I am told that fruits do form in Mumbai – I guess the pollinator insects choose to stay away from here 😉
Bell shaped flowers – next to a pen for size comparison
Waxy petals and didynamous stamens which are peculiar to Bignonicaceae family
The cream coloured flowers can be braided into a ‘veni’ but mind you this needs some skill and practise.
Veni is the Marathi word for a braid of flowers that worn to adorn hair.
Buccha often gives out suckers that grow sideways which means ‘baby’ plants can be found to be growing next to the older trees. It is commonly grown as a garden tree and avenue tree as well.
Millingtonia is among my favourite trees one that I never tire of seeing, writing about – I have written about or mentioned in five posts so far 🙂
Have you noticed this tree in your city?
I am participating in Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove26. Head over to read about some amazing trees from around the world.
Update on 2 Nov 2017
Millingtonia leaf
Leaf
Here is an image of the leaf. Leaf can be described as Bipinnate, leaflets are opposite in 3-5 pairs. Leaflets are ovate, acuminate with rounded base.
What do we ‘see’ when we travel away from our home cities? Over the past few years, I have made it a point to look out for plants and flowers of that particular place, especially when overseas. This made my visit to the Scandinavian countries a double delight as I was able to enjoy the flora of the temperate region – which for me had been limited to books and electronic screens so far!
I had a small field guide to help identify the trees and I cannot express my joy at recognising a tree!!
Here is a road outside our Helsinki hotel that struck me for two reasons, one is obviously the golden carpet of yellowing autumn leaves and the second is the white bark. Moving a little closer, the white almost looked like paint! I did not need any reference to know that these were Birches. They belong the family Betulaceae and the genus Betula.
Autumn
White bark
These are mostly deciduous trees which means they shed their leaves in winter. All seemed to have straight trunks. This was most obvious in the countryside, as the scene outside the window was blur of vertical white lines!!
View from the bus window
An article I read online, mentions that during the World War II, Birch wood was used to build the Hercules H4 which was a strategic airlift flying airboat. The aircraft is called “Spruce Goose” and is on display at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum at McMinnville in Oregon. Wow!!
Which trees have you spotted in your travels – for work or leisure? 🙂
I am participating in Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove25. Head over to seen some wonderful trees from around the world…
Strange as it sounds these trees do have a ‘sleeping’ habit dont you think?
I came across them in Moscow during our tour of the Kremlin. As yet, I havent been able to ascertain their ID and none of the locals around including our Guide could help me in this respect…
Why must they be horizontal? Flattened in some storm perhaps? Or is it the natural growth style of the species?
I wonder…. Any ideas folks??
I am participating in Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove24. Do head over for some fantastic trees from around the world.
I had only read about this tree and for a long time, it remained just that.. a tree that would need a special effort to see… Finally it was a trip to (hopefully) see tigers, that let me see and admire the Sal. Its botanical name is Shorea robusta and belongs to the Diptocarpaceae family. Special effort because the Sal only grows in northern parts of India.
I saw the Sal forest during my trip to the Corbett National Park. In fact, the road to the Dhikala guest house is dramatic as it passes through these towering trees. It was early summer, and the time was right for fresh foliage to break out. Clothed in glorious shades of green, the Sal lived up to the image that was created in my mind.
An indigenous species, it is a handsome tree and the canopy casts dense cooling shadows.
Sal canopy
Sal Flowering. Image Credit Rahul Rao
The Sal does face some threats, forest fires being a major one. Natural events like lightening too can damage trees. Infact there is landmark in the Dhikala zone called Mota Sal, which is the remant stump of a Sal that was struck down by lightening during a major storm… The stump still is quite awesome and my image does not do justice to its size…
Have you seen the Sal? Do make it a point to admire this glorious species whenever you get the opportunity!
I am participating in Parul’s photo initiative #ThurdayTreeLove. This is my contribution to #ThursdayTreeLove22
And before I forget, yes, we did see Tigers on that visit!!
This is a Boswellia serrata of the Burseraceae family (locally called Salai). In the above image, the golden glow is due to the morning sunlight on its fading (hence golden yellow) leaves in the autumn. The hills in Pune have many Salai and its easily recognised by its peeling pale coloured bark. It blossoms in January though the flowers are not very conspicuous. The tree exudes an oleo-gum-resin which is said to have medicinal properties, as is the tree bark.
Here is the same tree in the monsoon – isn’t it a glorious transformation??
The following image shows the peeling bark. If you can zoom in, its possible to see a greenish layer beneath the yellowish papery peel.
Fall colours in the colder climates are a much sought after touristy delight, one that is high on my wish list. The deciduous trees in my city also display changing leaf colours in the autumn which are just as beautiful.
Have you noticed leaves turning golden in November every year?
I am participating in Parul’s photo initiative #ThurdayTreeLove. This is my contribution to #ThursdayTreeLove21
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
