Here is the link to my Reflections on my 2022 AprilAtoZ journey.
My theme was Plants on stamps by India Posts.
Campus Trees ( ThursdayTreeLove)
Here are some trees that I saw at the Stanford University campus.. the famous Ivy League institution. They added to the intense academic and intellectual aura of the campus and had me in total awe!
Scroll down for a glimpse of some of the beautiful trees.
This is just a glimpse. The vast campus would have many treasures from the plant kingdom making it the ideal place to study and research.
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
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Root Pearls (ThursdayTreeLove)
We almost missed this tree as we walked a quaint street in Annapolis. It was a cold day in early Dec 2021 and my husband spotted these unique roots.
I am unable to identify the tree but its lovely ‘root pearls’ ensure I won’t ever forget it!
What do you think? Have you seen this tree?
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop.
I would love to hear from you. In case you face difficulties in commenting, please share your thoughts here.
Tree Course (ThursdayTreeLove)
This is actually a backdated post.. I was unable to post here due to issues with the host or server or WordPress or whatever. Then there have been issues with leaving comments on the posts.
Sigh!
🙁
I had a wonderful opportunity to see trees in their winter glory when I joined my husband on his golf trip. These are images from a golf course in South Carolina, USA.
Click here to read the original post and for a virtual walk around the Tree (Golf) Course!!
Multisensory Experience (ThursdayTreeLove)
Todays post features trees differently.. Rather I am just sharing images of a unique experience that I was lucky to have last month.
The Chicago Botanic Garden has an annual light festival called Lightscape around Christmas and we were to visit. Our tickets were for a 9PM entry hence cold was certainly what I expected but beyond that I really did not know what to look forward to.
But what I experienced was totally mind blowing. Again, a phone camera is totally inadequate to capture the ambience but I that does not stop me from sharing the images. I am sure some of our TTL bloggers from the US would have this or seen similar winter light displays.
Getting back to the garden, we entered via a lit up archway and then walked on an about 1.25 mile-trail (about 2.01 kms) trail. Different artists had decorated each area in different themes using different lights, music and even other special effects like lasers, music, fire (all with due safety precautions!).
Coming as I do from a tropical region, walking at below 0Deg C at night was daunting. But our hosts ensured we were warmly and securely clad which made the walk totally enjoyable and memorable. The entire visit was an grand surreal, multisensory experience.
It was not a walk meant to identify trees. Rather I could appreciate their shapes and growth patterns which were high-lighted by the various lights.
The moon held its own in the night sky despite the (artificial) million lights glittering below and we could spot its reflection in the lake as well.
Here is my humble attempt to capture memories of my visit.
I heavily recommend a visit to this garden at any time of the year and the Christmas light show if possible (I am told tickets get sold out in November itself).
Image credit to Rajendra Sonarikar.
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from aorund the world. Better still, join in.
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Wall Cover (ThursdayTreeLove)
This Y shaped plant was just as attractive as the beautiful castle in Krakow. Moving closer I found it to be full of lovely flowers and bees! After going around to view treasures in the museum, I made a beeline to capture this Hedera helix (that was its botanical name) in my camera.
This is a climber of the Araliaceae family with pretty palmate leaves . It is grown to cover walls and fences. In this location it seems to have been trained to grow in a specific pattern, but the species is said to be potentially invasive.
Here in Pune, Ficus pumila and the Curtain Creeper (Tarlmounia elliptica) are commonly used to cover walls. The Hedera helix is uncommon in my city and I remember its unique shape and flowers as vividly as the wonderful exhibits from the castle.
What plants have you noticed as wall covers? Have you seen the Ivy?
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, hop in!
Tree Boulevard (ThursdayTreeLove)
Due to issues with WordPress, I could not put up this post here on Thursday. Hence I had written about my tree on Blogger .. I am still unable to upload images here..
So Click here to read about the the Unter der Linden and see the images.. it is an arterial road in Berlin named after a tree .. namely The Linden.
Lindens belong to the Malvaceae family (Hibiscus family). The trees I saw had heart shaped leaves with toothed margin.
Our guide said she hated to park under a Linden as the car would be full of sticky substance the next morning! My research showed that it was not plant exudate to blame but the Aphids that infest the plant!
Click here to see my images of Unter der Linden.
I have always wondered what factors guide species choice when roadside plantation is done.
In his book Trees of Delhi, the author Pradip Krishen, discusses why particular species may have been chosen to line avenues in Lutyens Delhi. Apparently evergreen species which do not grow very tall (size and shape of trees) were a factor.
New York streets are said to have predominantly male Gingko trees.
But I am not sure how many cities have roads named for trees growing there!
A big Yay for Unter den Linden!!
What have you noticed about the species lining trees in your city? Do you know of other streets named after trees?
Update: I now know of a road named after the Cypress!!
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
Rubber (ThursdayTreeLove)
For a very long time, I thought that rubber that is used in various industries (to make tires, footwear, pipes and so on – just to name a few) comes from the Rubber Plant. To my chagrin, I realised my mistake quite late in life! The domestic ornamental Rubber Plant actually belongs to the Moraceae family and is Ficus elastica.
Commercially, rubber is sourced from Hevea brasiliensis that belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. This tree is native to South America but was introduced to India by the British and is now grown extensively in southern states of India. Latex collected from these plants is processed to make various industrial products.
The deciduous tree has a leafy crown of trifoliate leaves. Wild specimens can live for up to 100 years but those grown in plantations are replanted earlier as latex production falls. I saw several plantations a few years ago in Kasargod, Kerala. Here are a few images.
Here is a Wikipedia article that gives detailed info about the chemical nature of rubber, its processing and so on. Little do we realise that plants provide the raw material of so many important products in our lives.
It is interesting to know that many plants have influenced history. Prof PK Ghanekar has written the book इतिहास घडविणार्या वनस्पती (means Plants that have fashioned history) wherein he has described many such varieties and Rubber is one of them.
Have you seen the Hevea brasiliensis?
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
Coffee (ThursdayTreeLove)
I have posted Coffee on my blog earlier and here it is again.
The reason for a repeat post on Coffee is because @puneribaker shared these lovely Coffee blossom images.. And I had to share them with all TTL bloggers!
Coffee belongs to the Coffea genus and to the Rubiaceae family.
Its flowers are extremely fragrant and grow in leaf axils. The leaves itself are oppositely placed on the stem and have a prominent interpetiolar stipule. This kind of stipule is a characteristic of this plant family.
Commercially, coffee is grown in tea estates under the shade of tall Silver Oak trees. In India, the Kodagu district in Karnataka is a prominent coffee growing region.
But plant lovers have procured and nurtured coffee plants in their gardens in other parts of India as well. The above images are from one such garden. The species grows well in Pune.. bears flowers and fruits (despite not being in its optimal weather conditions) thus keeping the plant parents are happy!!
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. We are meeting after a break and best wishes to Parul for recovery. Do head over to her blog to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
PS. Some other Rubiaceae members are Mussaenda , Morinda citrifolia and Mitragyna parviflora. They are popular garden varieties and I am sure you would have seen those.
More Morning Hues (Wordless Wednesday)
Posting a day late, but I am sure you will enjoy these images of beautiful mornings ..
I am joining Natasha in her #WW blog hop.