Garden Wonders!

Though some plants are thorny, they bear beautiful flowers and have also medicinal properties; you see a flower of Tack weed (Tribulus terrestris, 'Nerunji' in Tamil).A blue flower with thin petals from a weed that has also tinnier leaves:

Another visual treat from garden!

If we get something unusual we are amazed. You see here the flowers of hybrid Cluster beans that were robust and grew up tall over a meter!

Garden has often winged visitors that it invites with its plants. Here are the pictures of a Locust:

Appealing wonders - Garden pictures!

An unusual colour excites and sticks well to your mind - a Yellow Shoe flower shows itself here:

Delicious fruits that were offered by my tree (that was uprooted by a downburst) - Guava fruits invite you here:

A wonder herb, called Banana!

I had wondered in my younger days that how banana leaves are seen coming out of wayside dunes. In closer view I found out that they grew out of corms that were disposed off from the nearby plantations. This Banana tree (Musa paradisiaca, Sweet banana, Dessert banana, 'Vazhlaippazhlam' in Tamil) yields the fruits that we, the humans, apes, elephants and many other animals relish on. It is not a tree but a herbaceous plant!

Hummingbird or Hawk Moth? Find it here!

Last spring, I spotted a smallest bird of about one inch length fly past my guava tree. I wondered about it that I have discovered a tiny bird myself. Recently I was in my garden standing before the Periwinkle plant that was in its full bloom. To my amazement that tiny bird I discovered earlier came into the scene again; it visited each flower; collected nectar like a hummingbird and flew away!

Smell here the aromatic Sweet Basil!

In my school age days I was sent by my sister to buy Sabza seeds at groceries shop. She used the seeds to reduce her body heat. She soaked them in water overnight before drinking it on the next morning. I used to peep into the tumbler to see the wonder that the water in it had disappeared and that the seeds then had a white mucilaginous covering. The seeds also became sliding on the tongue and palate! I later found that these seeds are that of the Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum, 'Thiruneetrupatchai' or 'Karunthulasi' in Tamil).

Twittering again about Nature's wonders!

We have seen already about the already observed and recorded wonders. But such wonders are still happening around us to be seen and recorded. I exhibit (twit!) here some of such wonder pictures for your viewing:

Bagworm uses here a strip of Jowar plant as its cocoon material (we had seen earlier a Bagworm using small sticks or thorns)!

Purple Orchid Tree, the most sought!

Orchid flowers are very beautiful. But the orchids are difficult to grow and have these flowers. There is an easily grown tropical tree that bears flowers resembling Orchid flowers! It is the Purple Orchid Tree (Bauhnia purpurea, Butterfly Tree, Purple Camel's foot, 'Iruvaatchi' in Tamil). Its flowers are pink and fragrant.

Candle Bush having worthy medicines!

I found one day a plant among bushes on the wayside, becoming prominent by popping up by itself with its bright yellow heads. It had large leaves and had grown profusely within a shorter period of time. It was exactly like a robust Senna plant, as if it was from the era of Dinosaurs! I also found grannies picking up its leaves for preparing home remedies for illnesses (Granny's medical treatment, 'Paati Vaithyam' in Tamil!).

Twittering about a tree, bug and a mite!

After an event in life other events follow. The question that arises within us after knowing about that prime event is: What happened next? I had informed about the unexpected cutting down of my Indian Coral Tree in one of my previous posts (Read it here). Now the tree has grown up and bloomed!

Cooling under Indian Almond Tree!

Then, in 1960s, here in my home town a lane was called after a tree that had been grown along its side. It was called as 'Vaadhaankottaimara Theru' (in Tamil). That tree's common English name is Indian Almond Tree ('Terminalia cattappa', Tropical Almond, ' Vadhaankottai maram' in Tamil)! The tree is characteristic with all its broad, large and deep greenish leaves that turn bright red before they fall down.

Lotus heats its chamber for bees!

When guests come, we as humans offer them all food and facilities with much hospitality. Then it is needless to to say how much hospitality will be there for those visitors who bring with them some advantages for us. Such a hospitality exists in plants also. Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera, 'Thamarai' in Tamil) exhibits it to the visiting bees.

Kidney stone remover, Aerva!

Even in this modern era beliefs are there. They are continued still as such by generations after generations. But it is tolerable where ever the intention out of them is a good one. Here in Tamil Nadu, India, a medicinal plant is tied at the entrance of houses during Thai Pongal festival --> to prevent the inhabitants from evil spirits!

Unresistible sweet Madras Thorn!

There is a tree that is liked by many animals, humans and insects. It is the Madras Thorn (Manila Tamarind, Sweet Tamarind, Pithecellobium dulce, 'Kodukkapuli' in Tamil). Goats are attracted by its leaves as they are tasty to them. Parrots, crows and squirrels find its pod as a sweet fruit. Children and adults too eat the pods as snacks. The pods that hang

Saffron for Fair Complexion!

In marriage market girls with fair complexion are in demand here, than the boys. But pregnant mothers expect their baby to be fair complexioned whether it is male or female! For that they take additives in their diet

Wonderful Peacock Flower Tree!

As a school going boy I know about a tree that bears beautiful flowers. This tree that was present in my school had its ground all strewn with its reddish yellow flowers. We used to chew these flower petals to get the sour taste out of them! ...

Cut Coral tree grows!

If you sow a seed, water and see tiny plant coming out, you get limitless bliss and pat yourself having done a wonderful job – as a child and also as an adult. You could also have imagined a tree coming out of a seed, as I did! Yes, I saw my tree in three years, as I imagined:

It was in full bloom and its flowers appeared like ’flames in the forest.” My tree is The Indian Coral Tree (Erythrina variegata, ‘Mul Murungai’ or ‘Sudukaai Maram’ in Tamil). But one day in its third year of bloom its canopy was cut down – for its growing up towards the sky (!), to avoid its touching the overhead electric lines:

I felt so sad about it for about two months till I saw tender leaves coming out of the stump:

You see here as it appears now:

I hope to see the wonderful reddish bloom once again on it in a year. Let us see!

Beauty measured by Golden Number!

It is everybody’s observation that symmetry in every aspect gives the object its attraction, pleasing its observer. All the beautiful objects in Nature that appeals to us are thought to have certain neat arrangement of their structures in common. They are said to be in a symmetrical proportion called as the Golden ratio. This ratio in all of them works out to a common number, (approximately), the Golden number!

It is: 1.61803398…..! This number is unique in that its product with its own number is equal to its addition to the number, one!

The Golden ratio numbers are given as a series of numbers as follows:

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55, …………… and so on!

You see that there is one common nature in this series. The sum of any two successive numbers gives you the next number of them! This is called Fibonacci series of numbers.

Beauty in Art, Architecture, Anatomy and many others are explained by these Golden ratio numbers. In beautiful flowers the number of their petals is in Golden ratio numbers! In our body, for example, the hand’s lengths between finger tips to the elbow and that between the wrist and the elbow are also in Golden ratio numbers! You can try it yourself. Even our DNA molecule has these numbers: its width is about 21 angstrom and the height 34 angstrom!

This wonderful Golden ratio numbers have been discovered by Leonardo da vinci (Fibonacci)!

For those interested in finding out the nature of these numbers:

Golden Number!

1.61803398..

Its product with itself  1.61803398 x 1.61803398 = 2.61803398

Its addition to number, 1  1+1.61803398 = 2.61803398

See that both the resulting numbers are the same!

Golden ratio!

It is: 1:1.61803398…

Two numbers are said to be in Golden ratio when the ratio between their sum and their greater number is equal to the ratio between the greater one and the lesser one.

1+1.61803398 = 2.61803398  2.61803398 / 1.61803398 = 1.61803399

1.61803398 / 1 = 1.61803398

See that both the resulting numbers are the same! So, they are in Golden ratio.

It can also be explained with other successive Fibonacci series numbers. Try with them and verify yourself!

Source: Science Reporter

Mud Wasps and Wonder Nests!

Mud wasps (mud daubers) are seen coming inside the house through the windows and then getting out after a while. They fetch mud pellets to build nests on wall corners, ledges or the ceiling.

They also prefer 'artificial man made nests' - like the screw holes seen on the speakers, or the power plug points! They simply lay eggs in them and seal with mud.

I have seen colorful whorls of paper like nesting material inserted one over the other like plastic cups, inside power plug points. The nesting material used here are the petals from the flowers of Bougainvillaea! Inside the central tube-like part of this 'flower' the wasp lays eggs and seal.When I break open these wasp nests, I often find semiconscious spiders or caterpillars moving their parts now and then.

Cuckoo wasp is different and it behaves like cuckoo in placing its eggs in other mud wasps' nests to get its larvae fed and brought up by the host wasp!
Again and again I could post more and more about these wonder wasps that drive you away from their nests, and but do not sting you at all! You can share with me your own experiences with wasps here.

Panoramic Views of Pothigai Hills at Courtallam - Flowers - 2

At Courtallam , everywhere we can see fragrant flowers in full bloom, larger in size than those in the plains. I should mention here specially about a flower, Champak or Shenbagapoo (Magnolia champaca), that is available here. It is yellowish and has heavenly fragrance! It is offered to the God, Thirukutrallanathar of the reputed Siva temple here. People used to buy these flowers preserved in transparent bottles and carry to the plains to place in the showcase of their house.


The children from the plains see this Touch-Me-Not or the Sensitive Plant ('Thottal Sinnungi' in Tamil) with wonder, and have the experience of touching its leaves that fold and retract themselves in response!

Various fruits are available here at Courtallam: Mangosteen, Carambola, Pample mousse, Rambuttan, Jack fruit,Java Plum (Naavel Pazhlam), Durian and the Mango ! You can share here your thoughts by posting comments.