The roads in Munnar (a town renowned for natural beauty in the state of Kerala), are narrow and constantly curve up or down hill depending on where one is going. Since I wasnt driving, I was free to enjoy the lovely views and especially the plants. One particular plant with spiky pink flowers was especially interesting.. almost making me stop our vehicle to see it (I finally did do so on the final day of our stay). Stopping and getting off the vehicle was difficult as the road was very busy with lots of cars and buses.
Its leaves resembled Tamarind but flowers reminded me of the Powder Puff tree. Yet this was different. The plant grew profusely by the roadside, its flowers beckoned me to stop and see.
Here are its photos when I finally could manage to 'meet' the plant.
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| The pink thread like structures are staminal filaments |
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The tree is not native to India but seems to be happy in Munnar.
Travel has introduced me to several new species and some of them stop me in my tracks (metaphorically speaking). There are two more such plants from the same Munnar trip but I shall share those in another post!
When on a drive, my family is now quite used to my (apparently) random calls to stop.. just cause I have seen some 'different' 'interesting' 'new' plant!
;-)
I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see some fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!
8 comments:
When I saw the leaves I thought, a type of mimosa tree, only because we have something called the silk mimosa where I live in the Northeast United States. It's considered invasive in the New York City area, which is too bad, as it has pretty flowers. The flowers on your tree are a bit different (and bigger). Interesting find.
These trees are wonderfully full and lush. The leaves remind me of mimosas too, which I love. Maybe they are related. :)
@ Alana We have a Powder Puff here and the Rain Tree that have similar Pink flowers . This one is a small tree or a big shrub. I did not see any fruit. But it was worth stopping the vehicle to meet this species!! Thanks for stopping by and the info about the Silk Mimosa tree in the US.
@Joanna Yes, all these plants looked healthy. I looked up the Mimosas... Not sure if they are cousins!! :-) Always happy for your visit here. Thank you!
This one literally stopped you in your tracks, I see. :) Love your curiosity about plants.
I was nice getting to know the Spiked Powder Puff plant.
Have a good weekend, Archana. :)
Thank you so much Dee!! :-) :-)
This is lovely and yes, I feel like I have seen this since it resembles bottle brush tree too. This is though delicate. Thanks for introducing this to us. I also go ohs-ahs on the road and where ever possible VT also stops to let me admire or click :)
Thanks for joining, Archana! I am so grateful for all your love and encouragement over 2023. My last post for the year will go live this Thursday and I am looking forward to seeing you around.
Thanks Parul!! Happy to be part of TTL and its tree lover bloggers from around the world!
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