The Cardinal Creeper

 

Bixa orellana - Lipstick tree

Thank you readers, for identifying this tree! I wonder what led to its common name - the lipstick tree! Perhaps the fact that the seeds of this tree are used to obtain a yellow orange dye, which is used as a colorant in foods - rice and cheddar cheese.

 

Thespesia populnea - Indian Tulip Tree

A fairly common tree, the Thespesia populnea or Indian Tulip tree is in full bloom at this time of the tree. Most parts of the tree are medicinal.

The flowers are a delicate yellow and they turn reddish as they age. It is quite fascinating to see the yellow and red flowers side by side.

The fruit is bell shaped and green in colour. It turns black after a while and contains white oval seeds.

 

Muntingia Calabura - Singapore Cherry

I chanced upon this interesting tree while waiting at the railway booking office. It is quite a common site - the interesting bit about this tree is that it's branches are perfectly horizontal, unlike those of most other trees that grow upward.
It has tiny white flowers and many small green fruit.
I am pretty sure it is the Muntingia calabura (Singapore Cherry).
The fruit, which is edible, is said to attract birds  and fruit bats.

Take a closer look at the flowers if you come across this tree - they are quite pretty with 5 green sepals and 5 delicate white petals, with many yellow stamen

Chinmaya Mission Hospital

I like the Chinmaya Mission Hospital campus on CMH Road, Bangalore. Full of trees, cool and serene - just what a hospital ought to be.

Skywatch Friday

Visit the Skywatch site for more amazing sky shots

Wordless Wednesday

bottle brush

Sky Flower fruit

If you look closely you will see rows of small yellow beads hanging from this tree. No this is not a decoration, it is the fruit of the sky flower.

The work of fire ants

Fire ants do a great job of stitching up leaves. Somewhere in the midst of all these leaf-homes is the queen ant. For more interesting information on what these ants do to the leaves, check out my post from last year.

My entry to the upcoming Festival Of The Trees.- go to the link for a picture of the very interesting looking Banana Slug.

Double Road, Bangalore

One stretch of Double Road in Indiranagar is a great example of how trees ought to be planted. Instead of having trees on either side of the road (and risking them having their branches on one side chopped off to make way for the buildings and then falling in the rains due to the imbalance), Double Road has its trees right in the middle. The trees have a lot more space to branch out. Sadly, there are many instances of their branches being cut off as they reach the 'ends' of the road, but the situation is still a lot better than in other roads. Why does the BBMP not do this on all other newly laid roads.

Skywatch Friday

In Support

Learn more about the movement

Visitors!

All of a sudden yesterday morning we noticed a purple rumped sunbird in our balcony. Though we could not see its rump we were sure of its identity because of the curious beak and the yellowish chest. Such a delight!

Balcony watch: The monsoon

Happy Independence Day

Reading the posts of my fellow bloggers has inspired me to start a little kitchen garden. I'm just back from the local pot seller and I think I will start out with onions and garlic. Then maybe some chillis, ginger, fenugreek and mint. Any other 'easy to grow in small pots' kitchen garden suggestions?

A pansy on my pane

My entry to Weekend Reflections.

For an absolutely delightful 'pansy' poem, head over to Madras Ramblings. Yes, we nature bloggers are telepathic!

The brave one

It has been raining rather heavily the last few days. And through all the rain some days back, this pigeon sat tight on a wire. It was very strange, it could have easily flown to shelter, but it decided to brave the water and winds instead

The Heliconia Rostrata - Chennai Garden

In our absence the heliconia rostrata has grown unhindered, as have the weeds all around. All at the expense of the garden lettuce which remains at the same height it was three years back.

Grandmother's garden

Lemon tree

The lemon tree, barely visible amidst the front garden overrun with the singonium, weeds and the king palms.

Can you count all ten lemons (or more) ?

I've never noticed flowers on the lemon tree all these years. This time though i spotted one -- it is the kind that faces the ground, but i managed to crawl under and take a picture.

Have you tried crushing the leaves and smelling your fingers after? Ah the wonderful smell of a lemon..

Where it all begins..

Bougainvilla - Chennai Garden

Don't miss the squirrel's nest by the plumbing

Butterfly spottings - Chennai Garden

Female common mormon on the lemon tree.

Common crow

Amethyst

One sunday in July was spent at the Amethyst- a restaurant cum shop in Chennai. What charmed me more than the old bungalow and the exquisite jewellery on display was the garden. There were water lillies. There were watermelons. There were brinjals. And there were ash gourds.All very fascinating.