Category Archives: white

Bushman’s Poison

I do not know if this shrub has been identified correctly.  Also known as  – Poison Bush

Native to Africa, but widely grown as an ornamental plant in India because of the profuse white flowers that are fragrant.  The latex of the plant is used by tribes in Africa to poison the tips of the arrows.  However,while  all parts of the plant are poisonous, the black seeds that follow the flowering is said to contain the highest amount of the toxin.

The small five petal flowers are white, tinged with pink. Flowering occurs mid February onwards.  And leaves are thick, dark and stiff.

Though fragrant and beautiful, it has been recommended that the plants are not planted in school campuses.

Picture taken in Lodhi Gardens, New Delhi

Botanical name: Acokanthera oppositifolia    Family: Apocynaceae (Oleander family)

Magnolia sieboldii

Common Name – Oyama Magnolia

Native to Eastern Asia – Japan, Korea.  A small tree.  With white cup shaped flowers with purple red stamens.  Almost look like mini lotuses.  The flowers are fragrant, but I did not notice it in the rain!

Picture taken at Benmore Gardens, Scotland

 

Dutchman’s Pipe

Common Name – Orchid cactus, Jungle cactus, Night blooming cereus, Dutchman’s Pipe .  Some even refer to it as the Queen of the Night.  Popularly known in India as the Brahma Kamal, or the Flower of Brahma.

The flower blooms once a year at night.  For some the period may be longer.  The blooming of the flower is said to be very dramatic.  And the bud moves and sways as opens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is said to emit a lovely fragrance as it opens.  The flower is not a lotus ( as the Indian name indicates) but is a true cacti.  The flower is considered sacred, and people who see the flower are supposedly ‘lucky’.

Since it is nocturnal, pollinators for the flowers are bats and moths.

This flower was in bloom at Ravuri’s apartment in Hyderabad.  Pictures also taken by him.

Botanical name Epiphyllum oxypetalum    Family: Cactaceae (cactus family)

Candytuft

Beautiful four petalled blinding white flowers that bloom profusely, sometimes obscuring the foliage.  The flowers bear no scent.  But otherwise are a popular garden plant.  Though available in pink and lilac, the white is more popular.  They grow upto only one foot in height and are low edging plants.

Botanical name: Iberis amara    Family: Brassicaceae (Mustard family)

Picture taken at Lodi Garden, New Delhi

African Daisy White

Common name: African daisy, Rain Daisy, Weather Prophet, Cape Marigold

 

 

 

Pretty aren’t they?  Belongs to the sunflower family.  The lower sides of the petals are supposed to be slightly mauve.  Did not observe that.   They are native to Namibia.  And love sunny warm weather and are at their flowering best in the day time and face the sun, and so the face of the flower moves directions as the day progresses.

Seen in Lodhi Gardens, New Delhi.

Botanical name: Dimorphotheca pluvialis Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)

Carrot Grass

Common name: Carrot Grass, Congress grass, Wild carrot weed

Strange to think that this pretty flowered plant , belonging to the sunflower family, is a highly invasive weed.  The white flower, though small, has five distinct corners and grows on stem tips.  The plant also releases chemicals that inhibit and prevent the growth of other plants.

Botanical name: Parthenium hysterophorus    Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)

Indian Cork Tree

Common name: Indian Cork Tree, Tree Jasmine

The tree is tall and straight, with  few branches. The wood  is brittle and used as an inferior substitute for true cork.

It blooms from April until the rains and again in November and December.

Flowrs are white and fragrant. Each flower is a tiny bell-shaped , a long slender tube . The flowers are short-lived, the sprays mostly consist largely of long whitish buds.. The long, fragrant flowers are commonly woven into an ornamental braid .

Botanical name: Millingtonia hortensis    Family: Bignoniaceae (Jacaranda family)

Picture taken at a parking lot at Necklace Road, Hyderabad.

Paarijat

Common name: Har singar, Coral Jasmine, Tree of Sorrow, Queen of the night

I generally carry my camera with me at most times.  I had gone to the doctor’s home, and I did not feel the need for the camera here! And there was this lovely tree.  I could take the picture at the left with the mobile phone camera.  A few days later I went armed with my camera, only for a picture, but sadly it had rained and the flowers were sort of shrivelled.  But nevertheless, some pictures were taken.

Nyctanthes arbortristis literally means, night-blooming sad tree. Grows as large shrub or small tree depending on how it is trained.  The scented flowers are small, attractive with white petals and an orange-red tube in center and bloom profusely, opening at night and drop off in the morning, thus making a carpet of flowers in the morning.

Used for worship by Hindus and Buddhists. 

They are produced in clusters of two to seven together.   These are apparently only flowers that Hindus offer to God picked from the ground instead of plucking from the tree.

According to mythology, this is a heavenly tree brought to earth by the god Krishna. Both Satyabhama and Rukmini, Krishna’s wives wanted the flower. So Krishna planted the tree in Satyabhama’s courtyard in a way that when the tree flowered, the flowers fell in Rukmini’s courtyard. Another romantic story woven around the tree is about Parijataka, a princess. She fell in love with the sun but when he deserted her she committed suicide and a tree sprung from the ashes. Unable to stand the sight of the lover who left her, the tree flowers only at night and sheds them like tear-drops before the sun rises

Botanical name: Nyctanthes arbortristis    Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)

Picture taken at Dr BS home at Punjagutta, Hyderabad.

Info – Flowers of India, Wiki, Top Tropicals.com

Common Crape Myrtle

Common Crape Myrtle is the smaller version of the Queen Crape Myrtle.  They are as short as 18 inches ( as this one) to as 40 feet.  The flowers are in shades of pink, purple and white.

Photographed at KBR Park, Hyderabad.

Botanical name: Lagerstroemia indica    Family: Lythraceae (Crape Myrtle family)

This one (below and to the right)  taken at Gun Rock Colony Secunderabad – August 2011.  I do not know if this is a Thorel’s Crape Myrtle  or Tropical Crape Myrtle.  But aren’t they so pretty!  Just love the purple and white.  So dainty.

Rain Lily

These pretty yellow lilies were blooming in the pot in the balcony the other day.  They look so beautiful.  But last only for a couple of days. 

Then they dry and set many seeds, which can simply be shaken back into the pot for it to grow back to pretty lilies later sometime.

Botanical name: Zephyranthes citrina    Family: Amaryllidaceae (amarlyllis family)

The white lilies were at R’s house at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.