The Bell Weed

Flower of the Bell Weed, Dipteracanthus prostratus

The Bell Weed, Dipteracanthus prostratus (Syn. Ruellia prostrata) belonging to the Acanthaceae family is another weed found quite commonly in the Adyar Theosophical Society Gardens. Dipteracanthus prostratus is a prostrate perennial herb with the stem often rooting at the nodes. The ovate green leaves are 2 to 10 cm long with noticeably paler lower surface. This weed is often confused with the Minnie Root, R. tuberosa which is a taller plant with larger flowers and less widely separated overlapping petals. R. tuberosa also has characteristic exploding seedpods.

Solitary violet-coloured or occasionally white flowers occur in the leaf axils. The flowers are 2.4 to 3.2 cm long with deeply notched fused petals. The capsules containing the grainy seeds are club-shaped, 1.5-2 cm long and densely covered with fine hairs. The plant is believed to have anti-cancer properties and is used in herbal medicine.

Minnie Root

Flower of Ruellia tuberosa photographed in Theosophical Society Gardens

Minnie Root, Ruellia tuberosa photographed in Adyar Theosophical Society Gardens. This is a tropical perennial plant belonging to Acanthaceae family. It is native to the West Indies. It has a hairy stem and grows to a height of 16 cm. The simple light green leaves are opposite and elliptic.

The plant flowers after the start of the rainy season. The big bisexual flowers are funnel-shaped and blue to violet in colour with some white at the base. The roots form tubers which can grow deep into the ground making it very difficult to pull out the plants completely. The plant forms longish, thin seedpods which when moistened explode and disperse the small grainy seeds.

This plant is often confused with Asystasia gangetica and Dipteracanthus prostratus both belonging to the same family and having similar violet coloured flowers.

The Grand Crinum Lily

Grand Crinum Lily, Crinum asiaticum

Grand Crinum Lily, Crinum asiaticum (belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family) photographed in the Adyar Theosophical Society Gardens. Other common names include the ‘Poison Bulb’ and ‘Spider Lily’. This is a large-sized lily with dark green strap-like leaves which may be more than 3 feet long by 4 inches wide.

Flowers are shaped like tubes that flare open into a crown of narrow petals. The flowers are white and are arranged in clusters on top of thick, succulent stems. Stamens are purple in color.

The Indian Laburnum Tree

Flowers of the Indian Laburnum tree, Cassia fistula

The Indian Laburnum tree, Cassia fistula photographed near Leadbeater Chambers in Adyar Theosophical Gardens. This is another favourite from my childhood days in Delhi. This tree belonging to Family Caesalpiniaceae is native to India. It is one of the most beautiful of all tropical trees when it sheds most of its leaves and bursts into a mass of long, pendent bunches of yellow gold flowers. These flowers are attractive to bees and butterflies. The fruits when ripe are dark brown cylindrical pods about 2 feet long which hold the flat, brown seeds (up to 100 in a pod).

This lovely flower is the national flower of Thailand. In the state of Kerala, the flowers are of ritual importance while celebrating the Vishu festival. A commemorative stamp was issued by the Indian Postal Department in 1981. It is also known as the Golden Shower tree, Amaltaas (Hindi) Vishukonna (Malayalam).

Malabar Pied Hornbill

Malabar Pied Hornbill, Anthracoceros coronatus

Malabar Pied Hornbill, Anthracoceros coronatus photographed in Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttara Kannada District of Karnataka. This is a large hornbill, at 65 cm in length. It has mainly black plumage apart from its white belly, throat patch, tail sides and trailing edge to the wings. The bill is yellow with a large, mainly black casque. Sexes are similar, but immature birds have a smaller casque.

This species is omnivorous, taking fruit, fish and small mammals. Figs form an important part of their diet. Figs contribute up to 60% of their diet from May to February, the non-breeding season. During the breeding season (March to April) up to 75% of the fruits delivered at the nest were figs. They also feed on other fruits including those of the Strychnos nux-vomica that are known to be toxic to many vertebrates.

In central India, tribals believed that hanging a skull of the hornbill (known as dhanchidiya) brought wealth.

Giant Malabar Squirrel

Giant Malabar Squirrel, Ratufa indica munching on a leaf

Giant Malabar Squirrel, Ratufa indica photographed in Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary (located in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka). Ratufa is genus native to India. Squirrels belonging to this genus are large-bodied tree squirrels which are diurnal, arboreal and herbivorous.

Ratufa indica has a distinctive colour scheme. The underparts and the front legs are usually cream colored, the head can be brown or beige, however there is a distinctive white spot between the ears. Adult head and body length varies and is about 36 cm. The tail length is approximately 60 cm.

The Malabar Giant Squirrel lives alone or in pairs. They build large globular nests of twigs and leaves, placing them on thinner branches where large predators cannot reach them.

African Tulip Tree

Showy reddish-orange flowers of the African Tulip Tree, Spathodea campanulata

The African Tulip tree, Spathodea campanulata (belonging to the Jacaranda family,Bignoniaceae) photographed near the Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad. This tree is planted extensively as an ornamental tree throughout the tropics. It is commonly planted as a street tree in India. There are a few specimens of this spectacular flowering tree in the Adyar Theosophical gardens.

African Tulip tree is a large upright tree with glossy deep green pinnate leaves. It is a tree that grows between 7-25 metres tall and is native to tropical Africa. The tree has a stout, tapering, somewhat buttressed trunk covered in warty light gray bark. The 1-2 feet long opposite leaves, which emerge a bronzy color, are massed at the ends of the branches. They are composed of 5-19 deeply veined oval leaflets.

The horn shaped velvety olive flower buds appear in upturned whorls at the branch tips. A few at a time, the buds of the lowest tier bend outward and open into the distinctive crinkled reddish-orange tuliplike bellshaped flowers.

Queen’s Crape-myrtle

Queen’s Crape-myrtle, Lagerstroemia speciosa

A very handsome flowering tree growing near the Blavatsky House in Adyar Theosophical Society gardens. This is closely related to the more common Crape myrtle, L. indica. It is called the Queen’s Crape-myrtle because of its larger, crinkled flowers which look as if they are made from delicate crape paper. This is a large tree with smooth, flaky bark growing up to 15 m but can be kept smaller by constant pruning.

The leaves are deciduous, oval to elliptic, 8-15 cm long and 3-7 cm broad, with an acute apex. The flowers are produced in erect panicles 20-40 cm long, each flower with six white to purple petals 2-3.5 cm long. In 1993, the Indian Postal Department issued a stamp to commemorate this strikingly beautiful flower which is so evocative of Indian summer season.