Saluting every life with a flower each day! Flowers are soul of the planet, blooming to play music with silent notes. Smile at them as they are sweet hearted!! Only the photographs taken by me are uplinked. I lean heavily to http://www.flowersofindia for flower identification and descriptions. Looking forward to valuable comments and suggestions.
Originally from Panama and Cuba, Fragrant Panama rose is an evergreen shrub, commonly cultivated in gardens in India. It grows up to 6-10 feet tall, with opposite sessile, ovate to oblong leaves with wavy margins, 2 inches long. From summer to fall, it blooms with beautiful, fragrant reddish orange, tubular flowers with yellow throats. Flowers occur in many-flowered cymes at the end of branches, up to 5 inch across. The botanical name was published by Kunth in 1818 in the fourth edition of Nova Genera et Species Plantarum. The name honored Guillaume Rondelet, a natural historian, physician, and botany instructor at the university in Montpellier, France in the 16th century. This photograph was taken on 1st December, 2011 from the Horticultural park near Mysore Palace.
The bright and beautiful Brunfelsia latifolia or better known as Yesterday Today and Tomorrow. The beautiful Purple lavender and white flowers are large, sweet smelling, are Tropical Perennials and are rarely seen in gardens. It is is a unique plant in that each flower lasts for 3 days. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. This fascinating 2-inch fragrant flowers open purple the first day, then turning lavender the second and almost white on its third day. Brunfelsias are evergreen shrubs from tropical America. There are about 30 species, all with tubular flowers which change colour over successive days. The leaves are alternate and simple, with shapes generally elliptic to ovate. The flowers are large and tubular, with five broad petals. The genus name Brunfelsia commemorates sixteenth century German monk, Otto Brunfels. The species name, bonodora, is from the Latin, and means 'sweet-smelling'. This photograph was taken on 12th October, 2011 in a private nursery (Atmanilayam), which is one of the most popular one in South Kerala, near Parassala.
Beautiful vining shrub covered with very unusual red to dark orange flowers with brown markings resembling rabbit's head with ears. This plant is relatively rare. The flowers look like 1-2 inch hummingbirds with their wings swept back or, from the front, like rabbits ears. They are full of and drip nectar. Blooms in winter-spring. Ruttya never stops blooming all year, making it an ideal patio container plant. They also tolerate a wide range of soil pH. I took this photograph from Lalbagh, Bangalore on 25th January, 2012.
Mysore clock vine, dolls shoes or brick and butter vine is one of the most beautiful vines. It flowers every day of the year, a mature vine bears hundreds of 3" yellow and rust red flowers in spectacularly long hanging chains. Mysore clock vine, is a woody-stemmed, evergreen climbing flowering plant, native to India. The name, mysorensis is derived from the city of Mysore. The vine often reaches 20 feet (6 metres). Oppositely arranged ovate-lancelike leaves are 5-6 inches long, and handsome dark glossy green. Flowers are large, in long pendulous interrupted racemes. This vine is shy of seeding and has to be propagated by layering. Flowers in the cold season. The plant is a popular garden item because of its attractiveness to hummingbirds. While i was around this vine to photograph the flowers, i could see so many honey bees, buzzing around the flowers, enjoying the honey. I took this photograph on 3rd February 2012 from the Horticulture park campus adjacent to the Mysore Palace. Many many thanks to the horticulturists, who nurture this plant and i dedicate to all flower lovers, for which Mysoreans can be proud of!
February 3, 2012
Scientific name: Euphorbia hirta
Asthma weed, common spurge, cats hair is a slender-stemmed, annual hairy plant with many branches, growing up to 40 cms tall, reddish or purplish in color. Leaves are opposite, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lancelike, 1-2.5 cm long, blotched with purple in the middle, toothed at the edge. Flowers, purplish to greenish in color, dense, axillary, short-stalked clusters or crowded cymes, about 1 mm in length. Capsules are broadly ovoid, hairy, three-angled, about 1.5 cm. Asthma weed has traditionally been used in Asia to treat bronchitic asthma and laryngeal spasm, though in modern herbalism it is more used in the treatment of intestinal amoebic dysentery. This was a curious little plant to me during my childhood, as it produced the milky white sap. The plant is very common in the entire South Indian region. This photograph was taken on 29th September, 2011 just outside the lab where i am working.
Water Snowflake is a pretty, fast-growing, perennial water plant. A blooming colony looks like snow-flakes on water. The leaves are rounded and floating on water. The flowers are delicate white and with yellow centres. The petals have unusual, feathery edges. The flowers are formed above the floating leaves with 2-4 cm long stalks. It gets its common name, of floating hearts because of the heart-shaped, bright green leaves which lie on the water surface like those of water lilies. Although they bear some resemblance to water lilies, they are not related. New plants are formed all the time where the floating stolons (above-ground, modified stems) form tufted plantlets along their lengths. The mother plant has a short, thick stem which is rooted in the mud at the bottom of the pond. This photographs was taken from a pond in my native place. After many years when i returned to the pond, to my surprise this has bloomed wonderfully, as if it is for me. My daughter was so thrilled to come with me to the brink of the pond and she even helped me to get into the pond to snap this shot. It was photographed on the memorable day the 12th October, 2011.
The joy perfume tree is native to South East Asia. the fragrance of the flowers is very typical and is used in perfume industry. This flowers is offered to gods in religious customs in India. Women and girls love to wear it on the hair. This is an evergreen tree growing luxuriously, which grows upto a height of 20 m. The bark is light grey to brown. The petals are loosely arranged around a staminal disc. The yellowish orange flowers attract birds and ever there is a poem in Kannada which states that the koel which comes and sings by sitting on the branches of this tree is because the tree and flower has mesmarised the koel! I took this photograph on 20th January, 2012 near my house in Mysore. In America, Champa flower is used to make one of the most expensive perfumes - Joy!!
