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Showing posts from September, 2019

Trees of Gulmohar Park : Laburnam

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Laburnam Scientific Name - Cassia Fistula  Common Name - Amaltas , Indian Laburnam Family Name - Caesalpiniaceae Bark -   Smooth, yellowish when young  Young , coarsening with age  Becomes ruddy or dark grey and  crusty plates fall off like scabs  Leaf  -  Feather compounded  45 cm long  4-8 pairs of large leaflets  Young leaflets are silvered but faint down  They become smooth and without gloss and they mature  Flower -  Fragrant bright yellow  Drooping yellow sprays up to 60 cm long with oldest flowers first at the base  The intensity of yellow varies   A flowers has 10 stamens of unequal length   Three longer ones are fertile Fruit -  Long cylindrical pipes up to 60 cm long  Seeds are stored inside little compartments encased in a strong - smelling , sweetish pulp  Ripe pods are black and fall whole to the ground .  Range -  Found along base of him alaya   and th Growing Condition -  Scattered tree of both d

Trees of Gulmohar Park- Fish Tail Palm

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                                                                                              Fish Tail Palm Scientific Name  - Caryota urens  Common Name - Jaggery Palm  Family Name - Arecaceae  Bark  -  Grey in color  Has spaced rings for every shed leaf  Leaf -  6m long  Leaf stalk emerges from mass of fibrous leaf sheets at the top of the stem  Individual leaves are shiny and triangular  Has one ragged edge  Flower -  Massed in huge ponytail - like tassels up to 4m long  The flowers are in groups of three  One female is flanked by a male on each side  Males unfurl long stamens when open  Female flowers open at the bottom of the triad and have no stamens  Fruit -  About the size and color of a peepal tree  Under the skin the fruit contains sharp crystals that can cause irritation . Range -  Found in India , Myanmar , Sri Lanka and Malaysia .  Found in the foothills of the Hima

Trees of Gulmohar Park: Bottle Brush

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Bottle  Brush Scientific Name - Callistemon viminali  Common Name -   Weeping Bottlebrush  Family Name - Myrtaceae   Bark -   Dark brown or greyish  Thick, corky and deeply furrowed in the vertical axis  Leaf -  Narrow upto 10cm long , pointed at both ends  New leaves are pale pink or bronzed and downy soft , eventually turning darker  Flower -  Crowded in dense spikes , about 8cm long , commonly scarlet  Petals are tiny and fall off early  Scarlet color is contributed entirely by the long stamens dripped in gold .  Fruit -  Small , woody , cupshaped at the end of the twigs   Unlike other bottlebrush species its seeds are released are before the next flowering season , so old fruit is seen as 'old wood ' Range - NE a Growing Condition Uses Legend Location in Gulmohar Park