Aquarium companion ...

Botanical name: Rotala macrandra

Giant red rotala is a creeping or diffuse herb, rooting at lower nodes, branches ascending, and reddish stem. It is abundant in damp and marshy places. Oppositely arranged leaves are stalkless, ovate, tip blunt, base nearly heart-shaped. Small pinkish flowers occur in spike-like racemes, either at the end of branches or from leaf axil. Bracts large, leafy, in opposite pairs, closely arranged; bracteoles minute. Sepals 4, 2 mm long. Petals 4, free, attached to sepal tube, alternating with the sepals, less than 1 mm long; stigma thickened. In the West, Giant Red Rotala is popular as an aquarium plant. This photograph was taken on 29th January, 2012 during my trip to Ranganathittu bird sanctuary, near Mysore with my friend, Dr. A.M. Babu.

Earing to your attention ...

Botanical name: Leonotis nepetifolia

Lion's ear, annual lion's ear or christmas candlestick is an erect, branched herb that can grow 8 ft tall. The stems are strongly 4-angled. Oppositely arranged are smooth with coarsely toothed margins, triangular in shape and 2-5 in long. The flowers are borne in rounded, spiny clusters, 2-4 in across, that encircle the stems so that it looks like the stems are growing right through the middle of the clusters. As the stems elongate, new flower clusters continue to develop above the older ones. Orange, furry, tubular flowers that emerge out of the spiny heads look like a lion's ear, with some imagination. The flowers are about 1 in long and curve downward. Lion's Ear originated in tropical Africa, but is now naturalized world wide. This photograph was taken on 29th September, 2011 in Mysore on the way to my office from my residing place.

Bold and beautiful ...

Botanical name: Eustoma grandiflorum

Tulip Gentian, Lisianthus, Texas Bluebell, Prairie Gentian is native to the warmer reagions of North America, and is found in the prairie grasslands from Colorado to Nebraska and down to Texas. It grows to about 15-inches-tall used and has a spectacular blue-green foliage. Tulip Gentian has wonderful flowers which are either simple or double, and blue to rose-red depending on the variety. The flowers usually are blue color but the well-bred varieties come in blue, lavender, and various shades of pink, white, white with a purple center and white with a pink or lavender rim. Some flowers have doubled petals and look much like roses. The leaf is ovate, simple and arranged oppositely. The plant however bears no fruit. Tulip Gentian flower grows in part shade/part sun. It is tolerant to acidic; slightly alkaline; sand; loam and clay soils. It tolerates drought moderately. This photograph was taken on 1st October, 2011 during the Dussehra flower show at Mysore.

Way side smile ...

Botanical name: Chondrilla juncea

Rush skeleton-weed is a thin, spindly plant which reaches a meter in height. It starts from a basal rosette of leaves and branches extensively, often forming a weedy thicket. The plant is mostly 0.4-1.5 m tall, appearing somewhat rush-like. The lowermost part of the branching stem bears distinctive large, spreading to slightly descending, reddish hairs. The upper stem is hairless. Cut surfaces of stems and leaves release milky sap. The early-deciduous basal leaves are well-developed, pinnately cut, 5-13 cm long, 3.5 cm wide, and strongly resemble dandelion leaves. The stem leaves are linear, 2-10 cm long and 1-8 mm wide, and often falling off. The upper leaves are often reduced to scale-like bracts. The flower heads are scattered along the branches, commonly with 9-12 yellow, strap-shaped "petals" (ray florets) per head. The involucre of bracts is 9-12 mm high, and thinly clothed with white, curly, hairs. The fruit is pale brown to almost black, 3-3.5 mm long, with five broadly rounded longitudinal ribs separated by grooves. The tip of the fruit body bears small pointed bumps then 5 small scales at the base of a long, slender beak, which bears the pappus of hair-like bristles. It reproduces by seed but also by cloning itself at the root; tilling of soil and chopping up plants actually help this species disperse by sectioning and distributing root parts. This plant is considered a very troublesome weed in many areas. Rush Skeleton-Weed is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. I observed this plant in the way side of the street where i reside presently in Mysore and took photograph on 31st March, 2012.

An eye on you ...

Botanical name: Chondrilla juncea

Water hyacinth, a member of the pickerelweed family, is a floating plant which can be grown indoors or outside. In a glass container you can see the attractive purple roots. The plants vary in size from a few centimeters to over a meter in height. The glossy green, leathery leaf blades are up to 20 cm long and 5-15 cm wide and are attached to petioles that are often spongy-inflated. Numerous dark, branched, fibrous roots dangle in the water from the underside of the plant. The inflorescence is a loose terminal spike with showy light-blue to violet flowers (flowers occasionally white) Each flower has 6 bluish-purple petals joined at the base to form a short tube. One petal bears a yellow spot. This plant was plenty in my native in the plants around us. Recently while visiting a nearby paddy field in Mysore by my residence, there is a water canal, wherein this grows well. This photograph was taken on 2nd April, 2012.

On the Vishu day ...

Botanical name: Cassia fistula

This native of India, commonly known as Amaltaas, is one of the most beautiful of all tropical trees when it sheds its leaves and bursts into a mass of long, grape-bunches like yellow gold flowers. A tropical ornamental tree with a trunck consisting of hard reddish wood, growing up to 40 feet tall. The wood is hard and heavy; it is used for cabinet, inlay work, etc. It has showy racemes, up to 2" long, with bright, yellow, fragrant flowers. These flowers are attractive to bees and butterflies. The fruits are dark-brown cylindrical pods, also 2' long, which also hold the flattish, brown seeds (up to 100 in one pod) These seeds are in cells, each containing a single seed. A postal stamp was issued by the Indian Postal Department to commemorate this tree. This is the national flower of Kerala state. This photograph was taken on 31st March, 2012.