I had a different tree in mind for todays post but I just read Parul's TTL 132 post and decided to share some plants from my home balcony garden.
To be more specific, three plants that are so called 'cousins'.
They belong to the same Genus of Malpighia but the specific epithet is different. Hence they are different species. I am growing them to be Bonsai and they do grow as trees in Nature.
They all belong to the family Malpighiaceae and you can see the distinct flower similarity. The frilly flowers are very pretty but not fragrant. The three plants I am sharing all have simple opposite leaves.
Here is my Cherry or Malpighia emarginata. The leaf stalks are short, margin are entire and the leaf tip maybe rounded or notched. This is an exotic species but seems to like the environment in my house. It is in fruit right now.
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| Cherry flower |
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| In fruit. This is an old image. I have repotted the tree to a different angle now. |
Here is the Hawthorn or Mapighia coccigera. It has spiny leaves which makes it difficult to handle or hold the branches or trunks. My plant is very young and will take a while to become a proper bonsai. Come November, it flowers in my home but has not yet borne fruits.
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| Spiny Leaves |
Here is what we call Frooti. There is a lot of debate about its correct botanical name and it is definitely from Malpighia genus. Most likely Malpighia glabra. Its branches tend to droop unlike the other two above. Leaves have a wavy margin and pointy tip. This plant flowers profusely once it rains and also bears fruit in August/September. This fruit is much smaller than the Cherries on my tree.
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| Frooti flowers and buds |
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| Fruits of the Frooti |
I hope you enjoyed meeting these 'Cousins' in my balcony garden ---- with a teeny bit of botany thrown in!
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove blog hop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
12 comments:
The one bonsai I ever purchased lasted perhaps a year. On the other hand, I've been to botanical gardens with bonsai over 400 years old. I have great respect for anyone who can grow bonsai. All your trees are new to me.
Those leaves look so interesting. That's something to be careful about, I'm sure.
I find Bonsai Trees very fascinating. I'd like to have some of my own sometime. I enjoyed seeing these cousins. :)
I enjoyed meeting these cousins they look vibrant in all the pictures, thanks for sharing:)
Wow, look at those thorny leaves. Must be very tricky to handle them. Thank you for sharing the "cousins" with us. It was a delightful read. :)
@Alana Thanks ! Do join some local Bonsai group.. I found my trees improved after interacting and learning from them.
@dee Thank you so much! :-)
@Angela Thank you for your support! :-)
@Vinitha Thanks a lot! :-)
The cherry flower looks nice and the spiny leaf is also interesting. Frooti is a cute name.
Thanks for introducing us to these cousins from your balcony garden. Happy Bonsai time!
Loved the cousins and such pretty trees and plants. Thank you so much for sharing these beauties from your home turf, Archana. Makes me happy. See you around on the 11th.
Thanks a lot @PanchTatwa Girl!
@Parul! Happy to share by plants with plant lovers!! :-)
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