Curry Leaf

Common name: Curry Leaf • Hindi: Kari patta

A special ingredient in Indian cooking and in particular South Indian cooking .  When you have a tree in the backyard, the fresh leaves add to the flavour of the dish.  But most of us depend on the local store and therefore it may not be at its ‘freshest best’.

 It is a small tree, growing 4-6 m tall.  The flowers are small and fragrant.  ( seen clearly in the picture above – photographed by Sa at Warangal).  It has small berries which are edible, but the seeds are poisonous. 

Botanical name: Bergera koenigii    Family: Rutaceae (Citrus family)

Picture to the right taken at SIL’s backyard at Sainikpuri, Secunderabad.

Ixora

Common name: Ixora, Jungle geranium

In full bloom, the plant looks so lovely.  Flowers are in various colours.

This was growing in the neighbour’s house. 

Botanical name: Ixora coccinea    Family: Rubiaceae (coffee family)

And the white Chinese Ixora that was in my SIL’s house at Sainikpuri.  The shrub was in full bloom.

Botanical name: Ixora chinensis    Family: Rubiaceae (coffee family)

Potato Tree

Potato tree, Giant Star Potato Tree

This is not actually the potato plant, but belongs to the potato family and used for ornamental purposes.

is a bushy tree with purple-white flowers that can grow to a height of 15 feet. It is native to Brazil, and is a species within the Solanum genus

Picture taken by Sa at InOrbit Mall, Hyderabad.

Botanical name: Solanum macranthum    Family: Solanaceae (potato family)

Spider Lilly

Common name: Spider lily, Beach spider lily

These flowers were in a pot.  I thought they would look prettier if they were planted in the soil.  A bunch of them would look so pretty.  The lovely white flowers have long narrow reflexed petals behind a central cup. Stamen filaments are green, and narrow petals .

Botanical name: Hymenocallis littoralis       Family: Amaryllidaceae (Nargis family)
 
Was photographed by Sa at Orbit Mall, Hyderabad.

Jasmine

Common name: Arabian Jasmine ‘Belle of India’ • Hindi: Madan mogra  • Tamil: Gundu Malli

Madan Mogra .  Has slender oval shaped buds . Flowers are double and very fragrant .  If it is a plant that is near a wall, you can expect the flowers to be stolen by morning walkers.

In great demand for floral garlands.

This was taken at SIL’s house at Sainkipuri, Secunderabad

Botanical name: Jasminum sambac var. ‘Belle of India’    Family: Oleaceae (Jasmine family)

King’s Mantle

Common name: Bush Clock Vine, King’s Mantle

An upright shrub with dark green leaves and trumpet shaped purple flowers with yellow throats.

Flowers occur in leaf axils, either singly or in pairs, sitting on peduncles up to 1.5 inches long. Sepals cup is short, bowl shaped. The flower tube flares open into five dark purple, roundish petals, yellowish-white at the base. It can be grown as a bush with weeping branches or it can be trained like a vine.

Flowers last only for a few days, but the plant flowers continuously.

Botanical name: Thunbergia erecta    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)

Picture taken – Mahalaxmi Racecourse, Mumbai

Hibiscus Flower

This flower is commonly called the Shoe Flower – I always wondered why till I read ( just now!) that  the flowers were traditionally used to polish shoes in Jamaica and some African countries

The flowers are conspicuous and showy and are have five or more petals.

Family Malvaceae

The hibiscus petal is was used to stimulate thicker hair growth and to prevent premature graying, hair loss and scalp disorders.

I do not know if this is the sleeping hibiscus or one which is not fully bloomed.

Both these were photographed at the Mahalaxmi Race Course, Mumbai

And another one at Sainikpuri

Crape Jasmine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common name: Crape jasmine, Moonbeam, Carnation of India

I am told this is the main flower for worship at the Shiva Temples.  This does not have the scent of the other variety of jasmine, but is the prefered flower!

Crape jasmine, a shrub very common in India, generally grows to a height of 6 ft. It can also grow into a small tree with a thin, crooked stem. The waxy blossoms are white five-petaled pinwheels that are borne in small clusters on the stem tips. Flowers are commonly used in pooja in north and south India.

Botanical name: Tabernaemontana divaricata    Family: Apocynaceae (Oleander family)

Picture taken – Secunderabad.

Snow Bush

In a vacant unkempt plot in Secunderabad, this shrub was indeed a sight for sore eyes. I wish I could have got closer for a better picture.

Common name – Snow Bush, Pascuita, Snows of Kilimanjaro, White Small Leaf Poincettia, Snow Flake, White-laced euphorbia.

Snow Bush is a spreading shrub . In winter it produces a mass of creamy white bracts which make the flower-heads appear like white poinsettia.  Actual flowers are small, greenish yellow, fragrant and attract butterflies. 

 Flowering: November-December

Botanical name: Euphorbia leucocephala    Family: Euphorbiaceae (Castor family)

Frangipani

Common name: White Plumeria, White Frangipani ,Champa 

White frangipani has beautiful white flowers with yellow centers.  Also known as the Lei Flower. Frangipani is well-known for its intensely fragrant, lovely, spiral-shaped blooms which appear at branch tips.

Photographed at Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad.

 The red frangipani is beautiful too.  This one was photographed by Sa at Gachibowli, Hyderabad.

Botanical name: Plumeria alba     Family: Apocynaceae (oleander family)