Yellow?

   I am participating in the April AtoZ Blogging challenge and my theme is Plants featured on Indian Stamps. This is my eight attempt at the AtoZ and the focus is on plants. 

My theme is inspired by an online talk by Daniel L Nikrent of Cornell University, USA held by Maharashtra Vriksha Samvardhini about Parasitic Flowering Plants featured on Stamps. 

I am not a stamp collector nor a fan of stamps. Hence almost all my posts are purely based on research on the internet. I have tried to cross check the info before posting here. Please do share correct info and links to the same in case of discrepancy. 

India Post has a very strong network reaching deep deep into the interiors of the country and I depended on it for news from home when we were posted in far away places.  In this age of smartphones, Internet, how many of us really write letters - snail mail as they are now called? Despite this , I find that new stamps are being issued and we have stamps on diverse topics including Armed Forces, Films, Personalities, Wildlife, Handlooms, Handicrafts and so on.. It is amazing!

Y has proved to be the most difficult and I am taking the libertY of diverging awaY from plants with names starting with Y. whY? you maY well ask?

Obvious reason is that I was unable to find a stamp with a Y name plant. 

Another is that, I am using the above to showcase one of 11 commemorative 2017-issued stamps by India Post on Ramayan. One of the stamps shows Hanuman talking to Sita under a tree.

According to mythology stories, Sita was kept in a grove of Saraca asoca trees in Ravana's garden. This handsome native evergreen tree has flowers that are Yellow-orange and are extremely beautiful. The dark green leaves contrast beautifully with the blooms. Here is a flower image from mY collection. 

Saraca asoca is seen at many places in Pune, by roadsides and gardens. 

Its cousin Saraca thaipingensis has yellow blossoms. But I have not seen this tree. It is an introduced species in India but I have read that there is one in Bangalore's Lal Baug Botanical garden.

Here is the stamp of denomination 5 INR.

Post of India, GODL-India <https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Gazette_Notification_OGDL.pdf>, via Wikimedia Commons

Here is another stamp that shows a beautiful tree on Roadside. It could be a tree with  Yellow flowers or Yellow foliage. The stamp is part of Beautiful India series of denomination 15 INR and issued in 2017. 

https://postagestamps.gov.in/Stampsofyear.aspx?uid=2017

What could this Yellow tree be? The stamp doesn't offer many clues as to the location or season. Or maybe it is the artist's imagination! 

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it!

The India Postage Stamps website  has a complete catalogue of stamps. Please click the link to see many many wonderful stamps.

Colnect is a comprehensive portal for Stamp collectors. It gives detailed information about every listed stamp.  Click here for detailed info about Stamps - what is a stamp, types, formats, water marks, perforations and much more.  

We meet tomorrow for the last Z post of the challenge and some lovely stamps. 

You can catch up with my previous posts here. 

Till then, Take Care and Stay Happy!