Crown of Thorns

This plant originated in Madagascar.  Considered a cousin of poinsettia!  This plant is interesting because it is one of the few succulents that actually have leaves. They are available in a range of flower colors, including red, orange, yellow, and a bicolor—pink and blush. 

As in Poinsettia, what appears to be flowers are actually bracts ranging from red to yellow.  The true blooms are tiny ( yellow in this picture).

  Botanical name: Euphorbia spp.    Family: Euphorbiaceae (castor family).

Picture taken at Shilparamam, Hyderabad.

 Information - www.bellaonline.com and www.flowersofindia.net

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)

Passion Flower

Picture taken at Shilparamam, Hyderabad by VP. I knew it as Gadiyar Phool, as it seems to resemble the face of a clock, but nowhere do I find that as a common name. 

Common name: Blue Passion Flower, Common passionflower, Hardy passionflower

The blue passion flower is a great screening vine for a fence, has large exotic flowers, crowned with prominent blue- and purple-banded filaments. It climbs by tendrils that twine & pull the stems along.  A woody vine capable of growing to 15–20 m height where supporting trees are available.  Usually fragrant, it flowers almost all year round.



Botanical name: Passiflora caerulea  (blue)   Passiflora coccinea  (red) Family: Passifloraceae (Passion flower family)

Info - Flowers of India

Old Man Palm Tree

I loved the name. The guide showed it to us and said does it not remind you of an old man ?- the trunk resembles an old man's beard.



Common Name: Old Man Palm Tree, Thatch Palm, Guano Barbudo, Guano Petate, Palma Petate

Originated from Cuba, this slow growing palm has a stunning trunk that is covered with grey wool-like fiber. It is called “Old Man Palm” because the trunk reminds of an old man’s beard. They appear to be standing like soldiers with their stiff,bearded trunks emerging straight from the ground.

 Leaves are palmate. In the summer it produces yellow flowers that are followed by fruits. Fruit is dark purple round, about 1 inch in diameter. It will take this evergreen about 10 years to grow to 5”. It might grow up to 15ft tall and 10ft wide but it will take a while. Old Man Palm loves full sun but can also grow in a partial shade. Is popular as an ornamental plant and widely used for landscaping.

Botanical Name: Coccothrinax crinita  Family : Arecaceae (Palmae)
Info mostly from - http://www.florida-palm-trees.com/2009/06/old-man-palm-tree.html

Picture taken at Nong Nooch, Pattaya, Thailand

Chikoo Tree

Common name: Chikoo, Sapodilla plum, Chico sapote, Noseberry

Chikoo is a fairly slow-growing, long-lived tree, upright and elegant, distinctly pyramidal when young. It grows up to to 18 m high in the open but reaching 30 m when crowded in a forest. It is strong and wind-resistant, rich in white, gummy latex.  Flowers are small and bell-like, with 3 brown-hairy outer sepals and 3 inner sepals enclosing the pale-green corolla and 6 stamens. They are borne on slender stalks at the leaf bases. The fruit may be nearly round, oblate, oval, ellipsoidal, or conical

Botanical name: Manilkara zapota    Family: Sapotaceae (Mahua family)

Picture taken by Sa at Bangalore

(info-Flowers of India )

Lobster Claw

Common name: Lobster claw, Hanging heliconia



In an untended garden outside a friend's home , Hyderabad, was this bright Lobster Claw.  What at apt name!

Heliconia rostrata has a pendent inflorescence, the bracts are red with greenish yellow edges. Each bract resembles a lobster's claw, hence the common name. The mature plant normally starts to flower in the summer. The flowers last a long time and make an excellent cut flower. It is an easy grower in tropical areas but some room is required because the stalks can reach 7 feet in height.

Botanical name: Heliconia rostrata    Family: Heliconiaceae (heliconia family)

Firespike

Picture taken at Shilparamam, Hyderabad just outside a small eatery.  I wonder how many looked up from their plates ( the food was delicious) and noticed this beautiful flower. 

Common name: Firespike, Cardinal guard, Scarlet flame

Firespike is attractive evergreen shrub with sparse, stiff branches that grow mostly straight up to about 6 ft tall

It has shiny dark green leaves with wavy margins and long pointed tips. From late summer through winter firespike produces abundant 9-12 nn upright panicles of brilliant red tubular flowers

Botanical name: Odontonema strictum    Family: Acanthaceae (ruellia family)

Chrysanthemum

Picture taken at the Baha'i Temple - New Delhi - the structure itself is beautiful, and the what seemed as millions of chrysanthemum flowers in full bloom was just breathtaking.

Common name: Chrysanthemum, Chandramukhi.

Irregular Incurve: These are the giants of the chrysanthemum world. Chrysanthemums have dark green, deeply lobed and aromatic leaves with soft grey undersides.



They come in a wide variety of flower shapes, sizes and colors, from dark burgundy, bronzes and oranges, to lavenders, light pastel pinks, and whites. Yellow or white chrysanthemum flowers are boiled to make a sweet drink in some parts of Asia. The resulting beverage is known simply as "chrysanthemum tea" .

Botanical name: Dendranthema X grandiflorum    Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family)

Information - Wikipedia and Flowers of India.

Red Ginger

 

Picture taken at a friend's farm in Shamirpet, Hyderabad.

Red Ginger -  also called Ostrich Plume and Pink Cone Ginger, are native Malaysian plants with showy flowers on long brightly colored red bracts. They look like the bloom, but the true flower is the small white flower on top

Botanical name: Alpinia purpurata    Family: Zingiberaceae (Ginger family)

African Tulip Tree

This was just another tree growing in the neighbourhood till the day  a few flowers bloomed.  The orange flowers were so captivating.  

African tulip tree  also Fountain Tree - is a large tree with glossy deep green pinnate leaves and orange flowers. It may grow to 80 ft . The buds appear at the branch tiops. They have green brown fingerlike pods pointing upwards and outwards above the foliage. Each of these pods contains about 500 tissue papery seeds.



Botanical name: Spathodea campanulata      Family: Bignoniaceae (Jacaranda family)
( Information - Flowers of India - link provided)

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