Wild Beauties from India

 

This is long pending, and nostalgia filled post!

Monsoon is an integral part of any Indian household. Everything depends on it – almost everything, inflation too!  And this year we got good rainfall. It was almost always raining! But now that monsoon receded and winter started, I had started missing those cozy, rainy evenings. And voila! We witnessed "Unseasonal" heavy rain this week, and the rain brought back the memories of time spent with my family at our ancestral village, those leisurely evening walks in the drizzling rain, festivities and wild beauties!

Monsoon not only brings rain, but it also brings life that was lying dormant beneath dry earth. Rainwater pours fresh energy over the fields in a form of fertile silt.

We celebrate monsoon, literally. It brings with it, various festivals that everyone look forward to. These wet months are also a time when distinct varieties of wildflowers (or rather wild beauties) spring up in every corner if you really know where to look for! Growing in neglected corners of parks, ditches, verges of roads and railway tracks, cracks in pathways and even in the corners of your garden.

The flower that we loved most as children (and I still do love) is impatience. As the blooms give way to a pod – and as the pod ripens to resemble that of a small but bloated pea-pod – a sudden little explosion lets all seeds fly like a small cracker. These flowers come in various varieties of pink, red and white. Pink being the most prominent one!

This year (after 2 yrs in lockdown and under travel restrictions) we finally got a chance to visit our native place, a quaint little village located in the coastal hill station Dapoli, Maharashtra. The village was draped in the various wildflowers from Balsam to Cat’s claw to touch-me-not flowers to various varieties of Morning Glory flowers. And with the flowers in bloom, butterflies and birds don’t forget to pay their little visits. So we got to see various wildflowers and butterflies and birds! Unfortunately, we forgot to pack our camera so most of the shots were taken on my mobile (please excuse the quality!) but really miss those misty cold mornings, smell of firewood burning, morning tea (homegrown lemon-grass tea), chirping/singing birds, shallow village river babbling over small rocks, all wildflowers and my “Me Time”!

View from Balcony

Little river in our village

Snake carved out of sandalwood

Toran - Crochet garland on the door

Below are some glimpses from nature’s bounty

Microporus Xanthopus or Yellow footed Tinypore is a tropical fungi species found on a rotting wood. I think, this fungus is a way of nature telling us that it loves mandalas too!

Wild Sesamum Mulayanum is a wild variety of cultivated sesame with conspicuous purple pigmentation on the lower petal.

Asystasia gangetica or Chinese Violet/Ganges Primrose is a perennial shrubby herb growing upto 1m in height and found along the roadside areas.

Gloriosa superba or Flame Lily is a tropical climbing plant that features exotic red-yellow flowers.

Mimosa Pudica, the humble plant or the sensitive plant is a species of shrub in the family Fabaceae and grows on moist and ungrazed places. This plant rapidly shrinks its body to external stimuli.

Indigofera Linnaei or  Birdsville Indigo is a small prostrate, much branched herb.

Lantana rugulosa or Lantana is a wild perennial shrub, native to India.

Vigna vexillata or wild cowpea is a perennial climbing or trailing herb belonging to Vigna genus. This climbing vine is widely distributed in tropical regions and usually grows in bushlands.

Triumfetta rhomboidea or Burr Bush is a perennial, woody, erect and branched herbaceous plant. This plant has a number of local uses. It has various medicinal applications; yields a good fibre; and has somewhat edible leaves.

Cheilocostus speciosus or Crepe Ginger is known for its crepe paper like white flowers which are lightly scented, waxy and cone shaped.

Celosia Argentea or Silver Cock’s comb are bloom with a compacted crested head 2-5 inches across.

Chamaecrista nictitans or Sensitive partridge pea is an annual leguminous herb with bright yellow partridge pea flowers peeking out from between the stems of taller grasses.

Impatience balsamina or rose balsam

Ipomoea Triloba or Little Bell are borne in leaf axils. They are sometimes solitary but more often found in small clusters.

Ipomoea Marginata or Laksmana is slender climber with white to pink-purple funnel shaped flowers.

Coccinia Grandis or Wild Ivy Gourd

 

Hope you enjoyed this little virtual tour!

Coming back to WOW, what can I say about wildflowers, only want to put my thoughts into Micheline Ryckman’s words, “Wildflowers are the loveliest of all because they grow in uncultivated soil, in those hard, rugged places where no one expects them to flourish!” and that is why I love wildflowers!

Be safe and stay hooked to your passion!

Take care!

Jessica