Bandhuka/Jungle Geranium – 1

Namasthe everyone..!!

Known by the names Bandhuka and Paaranti in Sanskrit, Kiskara and Kepla in Kannada, Ixora coccinea, Jungle geranium, flame of the woods, and jungle flame in English, this plant is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is a common flowering shrub native to Southern India and Sri Lanka. The flowers of this plant are considered to be dear to Goddess Parvathi/Durga Parameshwari and are regularly used in Devi worship.

This plant’s roots, leaves and flowers have medicinal properties.

From my Mother’s home garden..

 

Lemonia Flower

Hello reader,

This is also known as Limonia, Pink Ravenia. I was searching for the name of this flower for about 6 months.. Finally I got the name from the wesite www.flowersofindia.net. Thanks to them for the info.

Flower blooming in our garden..

Saint Mary’s Island – 2

Hello reader,

Continuing with my blog on St. Mary’s islands.

The waters of St. Mary’s look to be very pristine, as there is no human habitation in the island, but for tourist activity.

Without a doubt, the main attraction are the rocks of St. Mary’s. They look almost man-made.

Beautiful view…

 

The above photo looks like it is photo shopped, doesn’t it?
In fact, this is how it looks in real life, as the St. Mary’s beach is full of oyster shells. I had never seen so many shells at one place ever till then.

The rocks in the above photo look like a temple, right?

Stonehenge 2?

Rocks and the cool waters..

 

I will be returning next time with more photos of St. Mary’s islands. Until then, bye 🙂

Saint Mary’s Island – 1

Hello reader,
Sharing some sweet old memories of the time when about 6 years back, I had been to St. Mary’s Islands near Malpe. I will be posting more photos and sharing some more info about it in the coming weeks. There are 4 Islands in the group called as St. Mary’s Islands. Also known as coconut Islands, these are full of lush and tall coconut trees, and also home to mangroves.

The rocks of St. Mary’s are very unique and are the result of volcanic activity and separation of the Madagascar Islands from the Indian peninsula. Years of sea water activity have also resulted in the unique steps – like structure of St. Mary’s rocks. Other than here, the only other place you will see such rocks is Ireland.

The rocks view from Saint Mary’s Island..

The route to these Islands is from Malpe, the nearest mainland, by ferry. It is a half-hour trip from Malpe. There are some time restrictions-from Morning to Afternoon, beyond which you cannot visit these Islands. Also one is allowed there only for a few hours. The other attraction of this place is the enormous amount of oyster shells found by the shore here.
These Islands are uninhabited. Therefore, tourists must come prepared with bottles of water, and food, as the place can be quite sunny and there are no restaurants around. There are no shades around though there are benches for resting.
Though the waters look very pristine, swimming can be very dangerous here.

While entering Saint Mary’s Island..

There are talks of developing St. Mary’s Islands as a tourist attraction. Once you visit these Islands, you will want to come back again and again. Did you also like St. Mary’s Islands?

Okra flower

Hi there!
How are you friends?
I have not been posting for the last few days as I had been to my parent’s home with my kids for my son’s vacation. I was happy to see the blooming of many flowers. I took quite a few snaps there.

Here I have clicked a photo of an okra flower which was grown at my home. Okra, a vegetable, is also known as lady fingers. You can see a lady finger also in the background. At Mangalore, we have both the local variety, which is longer and more expensive, and the shorter variety, which comes from the plains, which is a bit cheaper.

As you can see, the flower of this Okra plant resembles the hibiscus flower. The reason for that is that both okra and hibiscus
are from the same family. It is also related to the cocoa (chocolate) plant, as well as the cotton plant.

Its Latin name is Abelmoschus esculentus. Its seeds can purportedly be used as a coffee substitute.

Okra has a slime-like/mucous-like quality when it is opened or cut and purportedly has many medically beneficial properties. It is
a very versatile and very tasty vegetable, which can be used in a wide variety of ways-fried, as podi/bajji (fritters), palya (vegetable fry),in sambar (curry) and in many other myriad ways.

Blooming Okra flower..

Karaveera/Nerium Oleander

Hi Everyone,

I snapped this flower in Mangaluru City. This is popularly known as Karaveera flower in our area, and Kanagalu in Bengaluru. Though this comes in a wide variety of colours such as white, light pink, dark pink, yellow, red etc. with single and double petals, this plant is very poisonous for both humans and animals.
Possibly one of the most attractive as well as poisonous plant around.

Single petaled flower..

 

Plant with lots of flowers..

Reinwardtia

I clicked this snap of the beautiful yellow flax in my mother’s home garden.

This flower, known in Latin as Reinwardtia indica, yellow flax in English or pyoli in Hindi is a species of Linaceae, which flax seeds or Agase Bittu in Kannada are also a part of. These are found in the Himalayan Ranges in China and Northern part of India. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Reinwardtia. This flower is very delicate and could fall apart, if touched.

I had heard that this flower is named as Punnaga, however on a google search, I found that it refers to a different flower. Then I extensively searched in different sites, and located this flower.

A yellow dye made from these flowers is used for dyeing clothes and making paints.

Soft petals..

 

Sthala Padma Pushpa/Hibiscus mutabilis

I took this snap at our home garden. In Kannada, this flower is known as Betta Thavare (or Mountain Lotus). Other names  Changeable rose, Cotton rose, Confederate rose or the cotton rosemallow. As its latin name ‘mutabilis’ suggests, it changes colour from morning to evening, from a fresh white in the morning to a blushing pink in the afternoon to a red in the evening before it whithers. This is a special flower in the worship of Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, and has medicinal properties.

Fresh white in the morning..

 

Another flower..

 

Blushing pink in the afternoon..

 

Red in the evening..

 

Aparajita/Shankha Pushpa

Shankha Pushpa  (Shankha means Conch, Pushpa means flower) is a creeper plant known as Asian pigeonwings or butterfly pea. It is also called as Aparajita in Sanskrit. I noticed white and blue varieties of the flower with single and double petals too. This flower has medicinal value in Ayurveda. It can be grown from the seeds. As per a Wiki entry, the seeds are like peas (batani or matar) and edible while tender.

I clicked this flower from different angles at my mother’s home garden.

Like saree draping..

 

Attractive colour..

 

Gerbera

Fresh in the morning, with the chirping of the birds in the background..
After having my breakfast, I went to our home garden and saw this beautiful gerbera flower in full bloom. I was elated and took some stills with my camera.

This snap is one among those stills, which I am sharing with all of you.

See the beauty of this flower..