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 ....

A web of attention ...

Botanical name: Chlorophytum comosum

Chlorophytum comosum, often called the spider plant, is a herbaceous plant. It is native to tropical and southern Africa, but has become naturalized in other parts of the world. It grows to about 60 cm in height. It has fleshy, tuberous roots, about 5–10 cm long. The long narrow leaves reach a length of 20–45 cm and are around 6–25 mm wide. Flowers are produced in a long branched inflorescence, which can reach a length of up to 75 cm and eventually bends downwards. Flowers initially occur in clusters of 1–6 at intervals along the stem of the inflorescence. Individual flowers are greenish-white, borne on stalks (pedicels) some 4–8 mm long. Each flower has six three-veined tepals which are 6–9 mm long, slightly hooded or boat-shaped at their tips. The stamens consist of a pollen-producing anther about 3.5 mm long with a filament about the same length or slightly longer. The central style is 3–8 mm long. This flower was taken from a park in Yadavagiri in Mysore in the evening of 29th February, 2012.

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.