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Mrs. Herbert Stevens: Hybrid Tea Rose Flower

March 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Mrs. Herbert Stevens Tea Rose free wallpapers 300x225

Mrs. Herbert Stevens, hybrid tea rose flower, free wallpaper size 1600x1200. CLICK on the image for full view

Perhaps you know Mrs. Herbert Stevens.

For those who do not know Mrs. Herbert Stevens, it is one of the most loved Hybrid Tea Roses, a white variety that can be found in most home gardens because it has a high stamina to grow even when it is not cared for much. These hybrid roses generally grow to a height of 3.5 m (11.5 feet) and the spread of the foliage can be up to 2.5 m (8.2ft). By color, and sometimes from the floral patterns, it may look like Frau Karl Druschki and Mme. Alfred Carrière.

The white or creamy white Mrs. Herbert Stevens, as it is typical of most white roses, is a symbol of peace, love and friendship. As it belongs to Hybrid Tea Roses, it is a modern rose developed from hybrid perpetuals and traditional tea roses.

It is also a sweetly scented variety of cultivar of tea roses that is a favorite of many commercial gardens and rose plant nurseries around the world, because of its vigorous growth, lovely shades of white or white cream color, and its ability to flower almost throughout the year in most climate conditions, a typical repeat flowering variety with large blooms.

It can be grown even in shady gardens with large trees, as this hybrid rose cultivar tolerates small to medium amounts of shades, and its disease resistance level is average.

Mrs. Herbert Stevens is loved by most gardeners because it produces only one flower on the apex of each stem, and do not produce flower clusters. So, it is easy to cut in the desired length of stalk and market the cut flowers.

Typically most types of Hybrid Tea Roses can produce flowers of any shade or range colors, with the exception of blue. The blue color roses you see at florists shops are either artificially colored or spray-painted.

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Theobroma cacao: trees that provide chocolates

March 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Theobroma cacao cocoa pods free hand colored photo 178x300

Pods (fruits) of Theobroma cacao trees, free hand-colored photo

Cocoa trees (or cacao trees) of the species Theobroma cacao are medium-sized evergreen trees of Sterculiaceae family, native to the Americas. The famous products of the Sterculiaceae family are chocolate and cocoa powder (from Theobroma cacao) and cola nuts, though some of species of this family may also be used for timber.

Cocoa plants have their origins in the Amazon region where they have been growing from around 1900 BC, from where they were initially taken to other regions in the Americas by the original inhabitants.

Cocoa plants grow well in humid tropical type of climate in which rainfall is abundant, and in fertile soil conditions in which the trees can grow without much human attention. It is ideal for shady places, and for cultivation among tall trees, as they can grow even under the shadow of other trees.

The cocoa leaves can be 10 to 40 cm long and 5 to 20 cm wide. They are alternate leaves and produce very thick foliage. The leaves are toxic, and contain a milky unpleasant liquid.

The cocoa tree will generally produce flowers when it is about five years old, producing thousands of flowers a year, but it may yield only about 50 cocoa pods per tree. The flowers bloom as clusters on tree trunks and older branches, and not on the apex. The flowers are usually 1 to 2 cm in diameter, off-white, with slightly yellow or pink calyxes. Cocoa flowers are pollinated by tiny flies, unlike other flowers pollinated by bees and butterflies.

Cocoa fruits (cacao pod) are 10 to 25 cm long and 5 to 10 cm across, and somewhat ovoid. They are green to dark green when tender, and when ripe they turn yellow, orange, or brown in color, weighing about 500 g. A pod may have 30 to 50 cocoa seeds (beans) surrounded by white pulp. The seeds are used for processing food products like chocolate commercially. Each seed can contain 40% to 50% cocoa butter in which the active constituent is theobromine (also known as xantheose), a bitter alkaloid compound, just like coffee beans have caffeine.

As the percentage of theobromine content of chocolate is very small by volume, it can be safely consumed as a food item. But on a large scale, it can cause theobromine poisoning for chocolate-addicts who consume large quantities of chocolates, especially for elderly people. Also, theobromine is one of the compounds responsible for chocolate’s so-called role as an aphrodisiac.

There are three main cultivar groups of cocoa. About 80% to 90% of all commercial cocoa comes from Forastero, which is not a ‘fine grade’. The Crillo, the Venezuelan variety with higher theobromine content, is the rarest and the most sought-after cacao variety, accounting for about 5% to 10% of total global production. The Trinitero, a hybrid of Forastero and Crillo, grown mostly in the Antilles, has some of the best qualities of both and it accounts for the rest of the world production of cocoa.

It is believed that the first Europeans to come across cacao were Christopher Columbus and his companions (1502) after which cacao along with other new agricultural crop finds from the New World were brought to Spain.

In about a century, news about the culinary and medical uses of cocoa and chocolate had spread to France, England and other European countries. Later, colonial powers like France and Spain started commercial cultivation of cocoa in their overseas colonies in the Caribbean, Philippines, etc.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) some of the top cocoa-producing countries in 2005 were Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, Peru, Venezuela, Sierra Leone, Togo, India, Philippines, and Solomon Islands.

From the 1980s, cocoa consumption has increased considerably, and it brought more cultivable land under cocoa cultivation. This has helped many underdeveloped and developing countries to start cocoa cultivation to provide employment and better incomes to rural populations, especially in countries of Africa and Asia, where cacao is grown both by small village farmers and large agro-commercial plantation companies.

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Lady Godiva, painting by John Collier

March 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Lady Godiva oil painting by John Collier 1898 300x214

Lady Godiva (1898), oil on canvas painting by John Collier

Seen on the left is an oil painting, depicting a brave Anglo-Saxon noble woman who rode naked through the streets to mitigate the tax burden of the people of Coventry.

It is the celebrated oil painting titled ‘Lady Godiva’ (1898) by the British writer and artist John Maler Collier (1850-1934).

In modern times, her legend is one of the most quoted and emulated by activists trying to solve similar problems of the affected people.

You can find many more tributes to Lady Godiva in popular culture of many countries in the form of paintings, drawings, sculptures, music, opera, books/ literature, television, advertising, films, sports, video games, etc. recounting the legend of Lady Godiva.

Lady Godiva was an Anglo-Saxon Countess who flourished in the period 1040-1080. She is also known by names with such spellings as Godgifu or Godgyfu that literally meant ‘gift of God’ in Old English.

Lady Godiva was the second or later wife of Leofric, the Earl of Mercia. The Earl exploited his tenants in Coventry, now a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. The troubled people approached Godiva for mitigating their tax burden, which was imposed by her husband. In turn, Godiva pleaded with her husband to remit the taxes, but he refused to do so.

When Godiva repeatedly appealed to him on behalf of the people, he threw a teaser at her that he would grant her request if she stripped naked and rode on horseback through the streets of Coventry. She bravely accepted the challenge.

According to some legends, Lady Godiva issued a proclamation ordering everyone to stay indoors shutting their doors and windows. Then she stripped naked (“clothed only in her long hair”) and rode on horseback through the streets of Coventry. After her brave act, Godiva’s husband Leofric abolished the burdensome taxes, as he promised.

The legend says only one person, Tom who was a tailor, disobeyed her. He bored a hole in his shutters and peeped through it, while she was passing. The legend also says, he was struck blind, and because of this most famous instance of voyeurism, forever he became notorious as the ‘Peeping Tom’.

The above legend may be a refined version of Lady Godiva’s naked riding legend. Some other versions of the legends based on the accounts of the tax collectors of her husband claim that Godiva, attended by two of her knights, rode through the Coventry market which was full of assembled people.

There are also indications that the current version of the Lady Godiva legend with the addition of Peeping Tom was made popular by the chroniclers of the 17th century. Similarly, the claim that Lady Godiva’s ‘nakedness’ was hidden by her long hair is believed to be a later addition to her legend.

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Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)

March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae Kingfisher of Australia pt 210x300

Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), a type of Australian kingfisher

Do you love Kingfisher? I am not talking about the Kingfisher some Indians fly on, or the calendar for which some women buy a lot of lingerie with the hope that they will be on its next edition.

I started this article this way, because I asked the same question to a few friends in New Delhi, and they were talking something like what I wrote above.

“No”, I said.

Then I clarified, “I am talking about the beautiful, brightly colored birds commonly found in India, Australia and most of the Old World, kingfisher of the family Halcyonidae “.

They had no idea, as they were far-removed from nature and they neither recognized, nor watched even the commonly seen birds in their neighborhood parks. They were only interested in some other type of bird-watching on which they seemed to be experts, as they salivated much while lecturing on ‘bird-watching’.

I had a beautiful greeting card sent to me by an Australian friend quite some time ago. It had a beautiful Kookaburra on it. And incidentally one of the friends I talked to was in Australia for some time. So, next I asked him about Kookaburras. Again, I felt I asked the wrong person the right question. He knew only the cricket thingy, which is a craze nowadays in India, and elsewhere, as the Cricket World Cup matches are going on in the subcontinent.

So, armed with a few things I knew about kingfishers and kookaburras, I asked my Australian friend. Luckily he seemed to know a thing or two about the bird, and that is why he sent the greeting card to me (see the scan of the old greeting card reproduced above).

So, here below is a brief bio of the Laughing Kookaburra, with the species name Dacelo novaeguineae.
Kookaburras are terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea. They are not really bothered about water as the other kingfishers are. Four species of kookaburras are identified in Australia and New Guinea, which are: Spangled Kookaburra (Dacelo tyro), Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii), Rufous-bellied Kookaburra (Dacelo gaudichaud), and the Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae).

Laughing Kookaburras seem to be funny birds as they make their trademark calls as if they are mocking at some equally funny ‘laughing human beings’. The name kookaburra is as if someone is laughing with a similar sound.

They belong to the kingfisher family Halcyonidae. These carnivorous birds native to eastern Australia have been introduced to Western Australia, Southwestern Australia, Tasmania, Flinders Island, Kangaroo Island, etc.

Earlier known as Dacelo gigas, Laughing Jackass, and Giant Kingfisher, they are large birds, about 45 cm long, with large heads, large bills and large brown eyes. They have white bodies and heads with dark brown stripes through each eye.

Their wings and plumes on the back are brown with blue spots on the shoulders. They have reddish-orange tails with brown stripes and white tips on feathers.

Kookaburras hunt for prey by perching and waiting on tree branches or tall posts for the prey to come nearer. They generally prey on mice and other rodents, lizards, small birds, small mammals, large insects and snakes including highly venomous snakes.

Laughing Kookaburras can be seen in gardens, parks and among human settlements. They are known to eat out of the hands of humans who may feed them. They may even snatch food from people’s hands by swooping down from a distance where they are perched.

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Rosa Barkarole: Free red rose flower wallpaper

March 14, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Rosa Barkarole free red rose flower wallpaper 1600x1200 300x225

Rosa Barkarole: free red rose flower wallpaper, size 1600 x 1200

For those who love red rose flowers, and especially those who are looking for beautiful desktop wallpapers featuring red roses, here is a beautiful flower of the variety Rosa Barkarole.

Rosa Barkarole is developed by cross-breeding Hybrid Tea Roses with Hybrid Perpetual Roses. Rosa Barkarole is a hardy garden rose cultivar believed to have been developed in the second half of the nineteenth century by crossing Portland Roses with the two other popular varieties, the Bourbon Rose and the Gallica Rose.

Generally, the Hybrid Tea Roses bloom continuously and mostly produce very large, sweet-scented flowers in pink or red colors. Hybrid Perpetuals had about 4000 varieties around 1900, and even now Hybrid Perpetuals like ‘Mme Victor Verdier’ are still very popular. Similarly, Gallicas (sometimes known by their nickname Mad Gallicas) also, generally, have sweet fragrance, intense colors varying from rose, red, pink and maroon.

Bourbon Roses, from the Reunion Islands, are supposed to have originated from a natural cross between the China Pink or Red Perpetual Rose, having lush flowers and nice fragrance, and colors ranging from white, pink to deep reds.

So, naturally, Rosa Barkarole roses, developed from the above stocks are very popular as cut flowers and grown extensively on a commercial scale for local distribution as well as for exports.

Note: This is a free desktop wallpaper designed from public domain photo. I have already posted red rose flower wallpapers as well as yellow rose flower wallpapers. Click on the links and download them for free!

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Different species of rose flowers

March 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Yellow ochre hybrid rose flower free wallpaper 1600x1200 300x225

Ochre-yellow hybrid rose flower photo designed as free wallpaper, 1600 x 1200

How many species of rose flowers have you seen? Perhaps too many to remember!

As for me, I have seen several varieties of them that produce flowers of different shapes and colors that I simply cannot make out which is which. When I became convinced that there are too many to remember, I left the idea of learning more about them, and just started watching them only to enjoy their beauty. My knowledge about roses is just limited to identifying them as red roses, pink roses, or any such layman’s classifications.

These confusions about the true identity of the species of true roses were worse confounded when I watched that even in red roses, for example, there are so many variations not only in shades of red color, but in other aspects also.

Few other general things that I can identify are whether they are hybrid roses, natural true roses, etc.

Perhaps, rose plants are one of the species of plants that have such a wide variety of species in terms, mainly, of the colors of flowers, shapes, sizes, number of petals, etc., though there are many other notable variations in the sizes, branching patterns and shapes of plants, leaves, inflorescence, etc.

Well, can this inability to identify roses in terms of all their botanical and other specifications be a problem typical of me? I do not think so, as I have met many other rose-lovers who face the same dilemma.

Even among seasoned botanists there is ‘disagreement over the number of true rose species’, simply because some of these species appear so similar that they are easily confused to belong to the ‘same single species’, and sometimes the same species will appear to belong to different species.

Yet another interesting thing that you can watch is the difference these plants have from one generation to the next. You can easily test this by planting some stem cuttings of your favorite garden rose, or potted rose plants. You will be surprised to note the difference in the color of their flowers.

Soil conditions and climate also seem to have a significant effect on them. Roses of a particular species, color, etc., can be seen to vary significantly when baby plants are planted in different climates and soil conditions.

The lists of rose species available from many authentic sources may show 100 to 150 species. But mostly, accomplished botanists downsize the number down to around 100 rose species.

There are four subgenera of the genus Rosa, which are:

  1. Hulthemia from southwest Asia, which are the only roses without compound leaves or stipules
  2. Hesperrhodos (western rose) from southwestern North America
  3. Platyrhodon (flaky rose) from East Asia
  4. Rosa subgenus with eleven sections

The eleven sections of Rosa subgenus are:

  1. Synstylae (white, pink and crimson roses from all areas)
  2. Rosa (Cinnamomeae with many more sections producing lilac, mulberry, white, pink and red roses from everywhere but North Africa)
  3. Caninae (Asia, Europe and North Africa)
  4. Pimpinellifoliae (Asia and Europe)
  5. Gallicanae (Eastern Asia and Europe)
  6. Banksianae (China)
  7. Laevigatae (China)
  8. Bracteatae (China and India)
  9. Chinensis (China and Burma)
  10. Gymnocarpae (East Asia and North America)
  11. Carolinae (North America)

Apart from the above, there are several thousands of sub-species of Rose cultivar that are commercially developed, cultivated, sold locally and exported internationally by Botanists, horticulturists, rose plantation owners, and others. Every day or every moment a new cross bred or hybrid variety will be developed by budding healthy growing stocks with profusely and attractively flowering other hybrids used as scions.

Seen on the top of this post is a hybrid yellow rose flower photo that you can use as free desktop wallpaper, size 1600 x 1200. It is, again, not a real yellow rose, but it is a shade of ochre.

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Taj Mahal, the symbol of eternal love

March 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Taj Mahal one of the seven wonders of the world wallpaper 1024x768

The Taj Mahal, Agra, India: free desktop wallpaper, size 1600x1200

The Taj Mahal, considered the symbol of eternal love, is a mausoleum in Agra, India. It was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631 at the birth of their 14th child.

The Taj Mahal was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and in 2001 it was included in the list of the New Seven Wonders Of The World by the Swiss New7Wonders Foundation. The Taj is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As the best masterpiece of Mughal architecture, Taj Mahal combines architectural styles from Persian architecture, and early Mughal, Islamic and Indian architecture.

The Taj’s architecture is unique in several ways, including a significant departure from the primary use of red sandstone used in early Mughal architecture to promote the use of white marble as the main construction material.

The decorative motifs used are flowers, fruits, vines, geometric forms, and for such work, inlay stones of yellow marble, jasper and jade were used on expansive surfaces. The remaining surfaces were inlaid in intricate details with semiprecious stones.

Starting construction in 1632, the Taj Mahal was completed in 1632, employing about 20,000 workers and skilled craftsmen who worked under a board of renowned architects of the times under the supervision of Emperor Shah Jahan himself. Specialist craftsmen and artists were brought in from many countries, such as calligraphers from Syria and Persia, sculptors from Bukhara, and stonecutters from Baluchistan.

The bodies of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan were interned in a simple crypt under the inner chamber. The base and caskets of the tomb are lavishly inlaid with precious germs, as well as semiprecious gems.

The Taj Mahal complex is set around an expansive Mughal garden. The garden originally had abundant flowering and ornamental garden cultivar including daffodils, roses, and several species of fruit trees. On the decline of the Mughal Empire, the garden was neglected. When the management of the Taj Mahal was taken over by the British Empire, they redesigned the landscaping on the model of the lawns of London.

For construction of the Taj Mahal, building materials were procured from all over India and several Asian countries: the translucent white marble from parts of India, sapphire from Sri Lanka, carnelian from Arabia, Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, jade and crystal from China and turquoise from Tibet. Twenty eight types of semi-precious stones precious gems were inlaid into the white marble.

As if dictated by destiny, on completion of the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan’s son Aurangzeb overthrew and placed him under house arrest, and upon Shah Jahan’s death, Aurangzeb buried him next to his wife in the mausoleum.

Three to four million tourists visit The Taj Mahal annually, mostly from October to February, when the climate is North Indian winter.

There are several buildings world over, which are modeled after the Taj Mahal. Some of the notable ones are the Tripoli Shrine Temple in Milwaukee, the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and the Taj Mahal Bangladesh. Bur the replica of 1:25 scale, the miniature Taj Mahal in Tobu World Square, a theme park in Kinugawa Onsen, Nikko, Tochigi, Japan, seems to be the best of them all.

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Amedeo Modigliani: the saddest life of one of the most expensive artists of modern times

March 10, 2011 by 1 Comment
Portrait of Amedeo Modigliani by Jeanne Hébuterne 1919 196x300

Portrait of Amedeo Modigliani (1919) oil painting by Jeanne Hébuterne, French artist and common-law wife of Amedeo Modigliani

It is sometimes hard to believe that some of the artists, whose works are now counted as the most expensive paintings in the world, once lived hand-to-mouth lives during their lifetimes. They are often referred to as ‘struggling artists’ and, sadly, many of them had died poverty-stricken, after a lifetime of hard work, without earning any name or fame.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, most of the young artists of the times used to head for Paris, variously described in art circles as The Art Capital of Europe, The Mecca of Artists, etc. An aspiring Italian artist named Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (July 12, 1884 – January 24, 1920) too moved to Paris in 1906, and settled in the penniless artists’ commune Le Bateau-Lavoir in Montmartre.

The Polish poet, writer and art dealer Léopold Zborowski (1889-1932) was a friend, financier, and art dealer of Amedeo Modigliani. Zborowski allowed him to use of his apartment, supplied him with painting materials and female models. Also, he bought Modigliani’s paintings by paying 15 to 20 francs for each day of his work.

In 1918 Zborowski organized a trip to the south of France for his artist-friends so that they could sell their paintings to the rich tourists visiting the area. Modigliani and his lover (and common law wife) Jeanne Hébuterne, who was also his model and an artist in her own right, joined the trip. Others in the group were the Tokyo-born artist Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968) and his second wife Fernande Barrey, and the Jewish painter from what is today Belarus, Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943).

The artists’ trip turned out to be sour, as badly as poorly fermented French wine. The group had to survive on the advance funds they were paid by their friend and art dealer Zborowski, as they could attract zero sales.

Their funds had run out. Their landlord zeroed in on them for rent. The artists offered him their works of art in lieu of rent payment, but the landlord rejected their paintings and confiscated their baggage.

Modigliani’s life could not be termed as a happy one by any standards.

Modigliani was born into a Jewish family in the Italian port city Livorno, which had served as a refuge for people persecuted for their religion. As his father’s business as a money-changer flopped, his family had to live in poverty.

Modigliani suffered from pleurisy when he was eleven, a few years later he developed typhoid fever, and contracted tuberculosis at sixteen. During his student years, despite being troubled by tuberculosis, he started substance abuse and alcoholism heavily. Also, he started frequenting brothels and carried on with numerous, frequent affairs.

Sadly, he developed self-destructive tendencies too, possibly, because he presumed that tuberculosis had already marked his early death. Finally, he became “the epitome of the tragic artist”. Some art writers assume that Modigliani’s self-destructive behavior may have stemmed from the lack of recognition of his artistic endeavors.

The only solo art exhibition of his paintings during his lifetime was in 1917, and it was closed down by French police within hours because of allegations of nudity.

After suffering from poverty, overwork and addiction to alcohol and narcotics, on 24 January 1920, at the age of 35, Amedeo Modigliani died in Paris of tubercular meningitis.

Today, Amedeo Modigliani is one of the most sought after artists of modern times, with his works like ‘The Beautiful Roman Woman, having gone on auction for $68.9 million, and some other works of him also having entered the list of the most expensive works of art, a recognition that eluded him during his lifetime.

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White Indian Peacock: Pavo cristatus

March 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment
White Indian Peacock 1 Pavo cristatus Jardin des Plantes Paris free wallpapers 300x225

White Indian Peacock (Pavo cristatus), a leucistic white peafowl reared at Jardin des Plantes, Paris - wallpaper 1600 x 1200

Have you ever seen a white peafowl?

Yes, possibly, if you have visited zoological gardens or similar sites where birds and animals are generally housed and looked after. It is very rare in the wild. I have seen some of them in zoos.

The first photo in this post shows a leucistic white peafowl that is reared by selective breeding in parks such as the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. It is an Indian Peafowl (or blue peafowl) of the species Pavo cristatus.

Generally, the Indian Peafowl are not white (or leucistic) or partially leucistic. They are brightly colored birds of the pheasant family. The males (peacocks) are predominantly blue with fan-like crests and long trains of elongated tail-feathers that are raised like fans and quivered as a romantic display during courtship. The Indian peacock is the national bird of India.

The females (peahens) are generally of dull color, do not have the train of long tail-feathers, and they have a greenish lower neck and dull brown plumage.

White peacocks and peahens are sometimes mistaken for albinos. They are not albinos (or suffer from albinism) but it is a condition called ‘Leucism’ that causes reduced pigmentation. Leucism (also spelled leukism) causes a reduction in skin pigment, and it is not limited to just melanin. Also, in the case of leucistic pigment reduction, it affects even hairs and feathers. That is why such birds and animals look white or just off-white or pale.

In some birds (and animals), leukism either affects the entire surface, including hair and feathers or plumage, because pigment cells do not develop. It can also result in partial leukism, or result in a condition in which only patches of the surface is affected, where there is a lack of cells that can develop pigments.

In the case of albinism, unlike leukism, it results in only reduced melanin production, even though the melanocyte (or melanophore) can still be present. Because of this, in some species having other pigment cell types, albinos are not fully white, but they have pale or yellow colors.

White Indian Peacock 3 s partially leucistic Pavo cristatus 300x225

Blue Indian Peacock (Pavo cristatus), partially leucistic blue peafowl, with white patches

Sometimes, leukism may alter the color only partly that may result in irregular patches of white on an animal or bird. It is because of a condition known as a ‘pied’ or ‘piebald’ effect, which can be generally found in cats, dogs, horses, cows, ball python, and in some other species.

The Indian Peafowl is generally found throughout the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, and several other regions of South Asia, mostly in the wild. But the bird can adapt itself for habitats such as agricultural fields, near human settlements, and even in cities.

Note: These are public domain photos. Click on them, view them, and save the photos to your computer’s hard disk, post in your sites, or use as wallpapers.

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Mussaenda erythrophylla, the colorful garden plant

March 6, 2011 by 2 Comments
Mussaenda erythrophylla garden plant Mosantha from Kerala 300x198

Flower of the tropical garden plant Mussaenda erythrophylla, aka Ashanti blood, prophet’s tears, virgin tree, etc.

The flower that you see in the picture is the inflorescence of the plant Mussaenda erythrophylla, mostly found in African countries such as Ghana, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Tanganyika, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Togo, Zaire, Cameroon, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and in several other parts of tropical Africa.

This photo was taken by me in 2006 at the village house of a family member living in Kerala, India.

Mussaenda erythrophylla and/ or other subspecies of the genus can also be commonly found in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, United States, West Indies, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, and India, and many other parts of tropical and subtropical Asian regions.

The popular species of this genus of plants include Mussaenda acuminata, Mussaenda alicia, Mussaenda erythropylla ‘Dona Luz’, Mussaenda erythropylla ‘Queen Sirikit’, Mussaenda erythropylla ‘Rosea’, Mussaenda frondosa, Mussaenda longiflorum, and Mussaenda philippica ‘Aurorae’.

The plant is also known by localized English names such as Ashanti blood, prophet’s tears, red flag bush, red mussaenda, tropical dogwood, virgin tree, and in other languages flor de trapo, mussaenda-vermelha, rotblättrige mussaenda, sang des achanti, and signalstrauch. The corrupt forms of the plant’s name include mosantha, mosanta, musanta, musanda, etc.

Plants of the genus Mussaenda are generally semi-deciduous shrubs, or they may grow up to a height of 30 feet like a small tree, especially when they grow in the wild. By nature they produce many branches, and spread out. They generally have thick foliage with medium-sized green leaves.

Most of the flower-like structures that we see in Mussaenda plants in bloom are the colorful bracts, which are modified or specialized leaves. Mussaenda bracts may be seen in several colors including red, rose, pale pink, white, and in other shades of these colors. We can see similar colorful bracts in other plants such as Bougainvillea, Euphorbia pulcherrima (poinsettia) and Heliconia.

The actual flower is very small and in the center of each bract, and may be often yellow, white or orange in color. These are types of terminal panicles with tubular flowers with mostly white corolla of about 2 cm diameter.

Mussaenda plants grow well in tropical climate with ample sunlight, good rainfall and high humidity. The plant responds well to humus-rich soil conditions with adequate drainage. In sandy soil, watering and proper adding of manure are required for the proper growth of the plant.

The plant needs pruning, generally in winter. If it is grown as a garden plant, or ornamental plant, gardeners can give the plant attractive shapes by pruning. Pruning also helps the plant to grow new branches that throw out a lot of colorful bracts and flowers.

Mussaenda flowers are bisexual, but they seldom grow into fruits or produce seeds. So, the plants have to be reproduced by either the process of planting semi-woody scion, or by layering.

Note: I release this photo into public domain. You are free to save it to your computer and use it for your website, blog, or in whatever way you want. CLICK on the photo to view full size.

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