White Lilies

One of the more known flowers and seen in plenty, hundreds of variations and my blog is in time for this particular one - Easter Lily. Lots of stories connecting Easter and these pretty while lilies. Also, a great flower to learn flower anatomy, the other being the classic Hibiscus (which my bio teacher at school used to teach us). A short lesson here - Stigma (the entry that leads to the flower bud that contains the egg), the Pistil (the channel through which the pollen travels), Anthers (produce pollen - male), Stamen (provides support). The petals (not marked) for attracting insects to facilitate pollination. Not seen are the Sepals used to protect the flower bud - a simple illustration here.

Name: Lilium longiflorum
When: Feb - March (by early April the ones at home had withered).
Where: Pune, in our home flower pot - this is as local as it can get :-)

The Cinderella flower

This flower's fairy godmother allows her to come out once a year for a couple of hours around midnight. The flower uses this time well and comes out in full glory to literally cast a shadow on pretty much any flower. This is what 'we' call the Brahma Kamal. It took me a while to find an authoritative link on the details of this flower because the real Brahma Kamal is a Himalayan flower that grows at a height of 4500m. The two flowers clearly look different but share the same characteristics with regards to the way they bloom and in size.

It is a rare flower in many aspects. Unlike most plants this one doesn't have a stem - the leaves stem out from other leaves and so does the flower. A leaf can be planted and it will multiply and you will be able to see it bloom the following Jun-Jul (if you are lucky!). The petals do look like the lotus flower and probably the origin of common name. It is a compound flower and seems to contain a flower inside a flower.
An interesting blog post on the flower.

We were lucky to see 5 flowers bloom, 2 on one night and 3 on the following night (even the buds awaiting their night out look fantastic). A sweet fragrance lingered in the room. I spent several minutes (if not hours) staring at the flower :-).

Name: Epiphyllum Oxypetalum, folks closer to sea level call it Brahmakamal
When: Jul - August (just one night, for a few hours)
Where: At home, Pune

Have you seen me?

Anybody who is even a mild observer would have seen these tiny flowers. One of the most common wild flowers of India.There are several species of  Lantana. It is known as Raimuniya in hindi. If you know the common name for this flower in other languages, let me know.

Name: Lantana Camara

When: Perennial flower

Where: Everywhere?! (This picture was taken in Bangalore) 

Nerium Oleander

Name: Nerium Oleander

A beautiful flower found growing in a lot of places especially along highways and gardens within the city. In tamil (South India) it is known as araLi and in northern parts of the country it is known as kaner/kaneri.

Description: Very pretty pink (striped deeper pink center), white (striped yellow center) or deep pink coloured flowers with five petals all bend slightly to the right. I have also seen smaller peach coloured Neriums at K. R. park, Bangalore. The center (stamen) is quite different and the stigma is white in colour. Highly poisonous. There is also a variant of this which looks like a desi gulab though the leaves are identical.

Where: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

When: Sept onwards.
(Sort of an evergreen flower. Have seen it blooming from Sept to March)

Buch

This is the one that made me start thinking of a blog on flowers. It is a beautiful flower with an asymmetric structure and smells lovely. Usually, they are fallen on the ground by the ton.

Name: Cork or बूच

Description: White flowers with 4 petals. The petal to which the stigma (light yellow in color) is the closest to is bigger and has a split at the top. Sweet fragrance. Non-poisonous. They appear at the end of the tree branches in a big bunch.

Where: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

When: Sept onwards.