Bare, Bold and Beautiful

Taken in November 2009 at Thrissur, Kerala.

Can you spot the 4 birds that posed for me?

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Do not eat this potato!

Taken on 19 June, 2010 at Bengaluru.


Solanum macranthum, the Giant Star Potato Tree, is a bushy tree that grows to a height of 15 feet. It is native to Brazil. It's fruits are not actually potatoes but the tree belongs to the Potato family. Flowers are fragrant and change their color from white to pink to lavender to a deep purple. The fruit is poisonous if eaten and has a very irritating sap which causes skin irritations.It flowers all the year round and we have planted it in our farm. Now I am going to wait for it to grow and flower. It is said to attract a lot of birds and bees. That's where I will be erecting the bird houses and the water bowls, if feasible a lily pond.




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Waiting

Taken in Thrissur, May 2010.

These trees are waiting for buds to form and to turn green again, but what a sight they were against the gray sky!

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Toddy Palm

Taken on 2 May 2010 at the farm, Nellore.

The Palmyra or Toddy Palm (Borassus flabellifer L.) has distinct male trees and female trees. These are the dried male flower spikes which have diuretic properties.

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My Way or the Highway

Photo Credit

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Wedded to the Weld

Taken on 1 May, 2010 at A1 Plaza, NH 5, Nellore

A beautiful vine so enmeshed in the diamond mesh fencing, it has made the diamond shape many times over. I loved the contrast.

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Topiary

Taken from a boat during a safari down the Kabini River, Karnataka on 18 January, 2010.

Standing distinct and proud in the midsts of tall trees, this tree, to be seen in a tall green world, has chosen flawless symmetry. In everyone of us, short, tall, thin, fat, there is something that shows us apart from others. It is left to us to find that something.

BTW; on the right hand corner of the photo, you can see a grazing spotted deer.

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Cartoon Jungle

Taken deep deep in the Nagarahole forest on 18 Jan, 2010.

As the Jeep-safari made its way into the core of the jungle, a roadrunner appeared out of the bushes with a coyote hot on its heels. I suddenly came across this tree with 'Bugs Bunny' written on its name board. There was another one, slightly smaller, which I bet belonged to Daffy Duck! Could't catch it in this snap because I was not allowed to disembark into the dangerous cartoon jungle!

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Naked in Silk

White silk cotton tree/ Ceiba pentandra/ The Great Kapok Tree.


The kapok tree is deciduous, shedding all of its leaves during the dry season. As its seeds are easily blown into open areas, kapok trees are some of the first to colonize open areas in the forest. The white and pink flowers of the kapok tree emit a foul odor that attracts bats. As the flying mammals move from flower to flower feasting on the nectar, they transfer pollen on their fur, thus facilitating pollination. The kapok tree does a great job at spreading its seeds, producing anywhere between 500 and 4,000 fruits at one time, with each fruit containing 200 seeds. When these fruit burst open, silky fibers spread the many seeds all over the forest. Source


Taken on 13 April, 2010.

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At the Altar

Taken on 17 Jan, 2010 in the Nagarahole forest, Karnataka.

This tree stump looks like a carved idol of 'The God of the Forest'. Don't miss the creeper decorating the head. Look carefully and it stares back at you!

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Web of Life

Taken on 26 Jan 2010 on the way to Bangalore.

This tree looks old and seems to have found and answer to every problem in life. Look at the way it has adapted by changing direction when needed! Amazing lesson.

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Long Shadows

Taken on 18 Jan 2010 at Nagarahole'.
The predominant vegetation in the Nagarhole National Park is of southern tropical, moist, mixed deciduous type with a substantial eastern portion intergrading into dry deciduous type. 
The upper tree canopy is dominated by Terminalia tomentosa is association with Tectonia grandis, Dalbergia latifolia, Pterocarpus marsupium, Lagerstroemia lanceolata, Anogeissus latifolia, Adina cordifolia, Boambax malabaricum, Schleichera trijuga, Ficus sp. and others. The lower canopy has Kydia calycina, Emblica officinalis, Gmelina arborea etc. 
Several shrubs belonging to Solanum, Desmodium and Helicteres sp. etc. are abundantly found but exotic weedy shrubs like Eupatorium and Lantana now have taken over the undergrowth.

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Sunshine deep

Taken on 18 Jan, 2010 at the Nagarahole' forests of Karnataka.
Nagarhole National park derives its name from the combination of two Kannada words. 'Nagar,' meaning snake, and 'hole,' meaning streams. True to its name, quite a few serpentine streams fork through the rich tropical forests of the park. Nagarhole Park was set up in 1955. In 1975, its area was increased to include a greater expanse of forest reserve. The original forest was once an exclusive hunting ground for the erstwhile Maharajas of Mysore. The park has been recently renamed as Rajiv Gandhi NationalPark after the late Prime Minister of India.

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Freshwater Trees

Barringtonia acutangula, Freshwater Mangrove, Indian Oak, Indian Putat, grows on the banks of freshwater rivers, the edges of freshwater swamps and lagoons and on seasonally flooded lowland plains, commonly on heavy soils. It is called by Sanskrit writers Hijja or Hijjala. The fruit is spoken of as Samudra-phala and Dhātriphala or ”nurse’s fruit,” and is one of the best known domestic remedies.

The birds that you see are painted storks, Mycteria leucocephala, and cattle egrets(white birds)

Taken 7 March 2010, at Nelapattu, Nellore, AP

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Also look at

Safe Haven

Sanctuary

Solitary Stock

Orange Pallete

Taken on 28 Feb 2010.
The Indian Almond/Badam tree, Terminalia catappa is a beautiful tree. The leaves come in so many shades of green and orange. The leaves are weaved together with little sticks to make disposable eco-friendly  dinner plates called 'vistrakulu' in Andhra Pradesh.

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