Fragrance of your soul ....

Botanical name: Nerium oleander

Beautiful blossoms of fragrant flowers in bunches, at the tip of branchlets rendering an eye-catching sight that is 'Oleander'. A native of India and the Mediterranean, it is now widely grown in tropical and subtropical gardens, parks, avenues and is popular for its hue and fragrance. It rises up to 3 meters erect with its short branches and dark dusty green leathery narrow leaves, which grow in whorls. The are narrow lance like, 5-21 cm long and 1-3.5 cm broad, and with an entire margin. The flowers grow in clusters at the end of each branch; they are white, pink or yellow, 2.5-5 cm diameter, with 5 petals fringed at the base. They are often, but not always, sweetly scented. The fruit is a long narrow capsule 5-23 cm long, which splits open at maturity to release numerous downy seeds. The plants are almost free from pests and diseases and untouched by cattle and goats, due to their toxicity. In India they are thus the most favoured plants for the road dividers, where a plant has to withstand heat and dust, and little water. There are single and double forms in white, pink and red. This photographs was taken on 27th April, 2012 at Mysore near the street where i presently reside.

Bold and visible .....

Botanical name: Colocasia esculenta

Colocasia esculenta is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms, the root vegetables whose many names include Taro and Eddoe. It is believed to be one of the earliest cultivated plants. They are very striking tropical plants with deep purple/black leaves. These contrast well with other green leaved plants. They can be grown in up to 80% shade and require plenty of water to ensure good growth. They thrive next to ponds, in a bog garden or even grown in a pot if kept well watered. It reaches a height of between 4-6 feet and can clump to 6 feet looking stunning in any garden. They can be easily propagated by dividing the plants and it is recommended to dig them up to bring inside for the winter which is very easy to do. Will produce lots of small plants ready to divide in year 1 or 2. Can be grown indoors all year round in a pot if preferred. I was observing this plant almost every day on my way to work. In the evening of 4th April, 2012, it struck my attention while returning from lab and i took the snap immediately.

Attentive to you ....

Botanical name: Plumeria obtusa

Plumeria are a tropical flowering tree, sometimes called frangipani, in the plant family Apocynaceae. Though tropical by nature, when protected from frost, they are well suited to subtropical climates in the United States in states bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, and in Southern California. They are prolific in Hawaii.Plumeria are valued as landscape plants, ornamentals, and for their flowers. Singapore plumeria has larger flowers compared to plumeria rubra, and the longish petals are almost not overlapping. Leaves do not have pointed ends like plumeria rubra, and are rather blunt. This photograph was taken on 22nd April, 2012 in the CSRTI, Mysore campus, where i presently work.

Botanical name: Amaranthus cruentus

Hot Biscuits Amaranth is a tall annual herb topped with clusters of ginger or cinnamon colored flowers. The plant can grow up to 2 m (6 ft) in height, and blooms in summer to fall. It is believed to have originated from Amaranthus hybridus, with which it shares many morphological features. This species was in use as a food source in Central America as early as 4000 BC. The plant is usually green in color, but a purple variant was once grown for use in Inca rituals. The plant is grown as a garden flower, and is good as a cut-flower. The seeds are eaten as a cereal grain. They are black in the wild plant, and white in the domesticated form. They are ground into flour, popped like popcorn, cooked into a porridge, and made into a confectionery called alegría. The leaves can be cooked like spinach, and the seeds can be germinated into nutritious sprouts. While A. cruentus is no longer a staple food, it is still grown and sold as a health food. This photograph was taken on 17th April, 2012 in the institute campus, where i work.

Sporadic blooms ...

Botanical name: Chlorophytum suffruticosum

Chlorophytum suffruticosum is a perennial caudiciform plant native to East and Central Africa. The linear leaves reach up to 37.5 cm long by 2.5 cm wide. The grass-like leaves sprout from the top of a succulent stem up to 30 cm in height and 4 cm thick. It is a strange looking plant with the stems rising from a flat, knobby looking tuber that grows at soil level. It is an easy plant to grow. The plant blooms sporadically throughout the year. The small, 3.2 cm white flowers are borne on up to 30 cm panicles. There are up to 25 flowers per panicle with blooms opening every few days. I took this photograph on 2nd January, 2012 in my native place while visiting a plant nursery.

Floating in thin air ...

Botanical name: Chloris barbata

Giant finger grass is an annual or short-lived perennial. Culms loosely tufted, ascending or decumbent at base and rooting at lower nodes, 0.2–1 m tall. Leaf sheaths keeled, glabrous; leaf blades flat or folded, 10–40 cm, 4–8 mm wide, glabrous, apex acute; ligule short, ciliate. Racemes digitate, 5–15, erect or ascending, 3–8 cm, often somewhat flexuous and purplish; rachis scabrous. Spikelets with 3 or 4 florets, ciliate on upper margins with 1–1.5 mm hairs; upper florets sterile, lemmas empty, inflated, overlapping to form a knob at side of fertile floret; second lemma turbinate, truncate, 1–1.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely appressed-pilose on back, awn subequaling awn of fertile floret; third (and fourth) lemmas orbicular, awn somewhat shorter. This plant belonging to poaceae is found all along south India and i took this photograph on 22nd April, 2012 from just behind my lab.

A salute to the earth ...

Botanical name: Capparis sepiaria

Spreading or climbing, much branched shrub, 3-4 m long, more or less pubescent with ashy grey simple hairs. Leaves elliptic oblong to ovate or suborbicular, 1.5-4 cm long, 1-2 cm broad, often retuse, softly pubescent to glabrous; petiole 2-5 mm long, pubescent; stipular spines 2-5 mm, hooked, often brown-black. Flowers usually in corymbose terminal clusters of 10-30, small, 5-10 mm across, white; pedicels 1-2 cm long, not thickened in fruit, pubescent. Sepals 3-6 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm broad, subequal. Petals oblong-spathulate, 3.5-8 mm long, 2-3 mm broad, more or less hairy at the base. I took this photograph today from inside my institute, as i was roaming with my camera. I dedicate to all who love the mother earth ....