Confused (ThursdayTreeLove)

 On a new morning walk route, I came across these large white and purple flowers carpeting the track. The tree immediately above it had heart shaped shiny leaves and I was totally completely confused. 

Could not corelate these white/purple flower with tree with heart shaped leaves

I was simply unable to think of the tree ID. I photographed the flower and decided to look for the flowers on the tree. 

Much to my surprise it had no flowers. 

I looked around and found them to be growing on a large creeper that went from one tree to another...canopy to canopy. 

      
                              

That was a major Aha moment .

The flowers were of Argeyria nervosa aka Samudrashok (in marathi)  or Elephant Creeper of the Convolvulaceeae Family. 

In fact there was profuse blooming which accounted for the flower carpet. Suddenly everything was clear and I was quite relieved. 😅 

It's fruit is a woody hard capsule that bursts to resemble a rose. I am keeping tabs on the creeper to see those. The seeds are said to be toxic.

This is native species that's also seen around the world. The creeper has large heart shaped leaves with whitish undersides. 

You may well ask, which was the tree ? Let's leave that for another post😂

I am joining Parul on her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see fantastic trees from around the world. Better still, join in!

Few Of Its Kind (ThursdayTreeLove)

 Today's tree is yet another one that I found via our WhatsApp Tree groups. 

Its a native but very few of them grow in Pune. Usually such one of kind trees grow in inaccessible places that need a lot of determination to reach.

Gathering loads of that I drove to the place, using the shared location. 

As it happened, I could see the tree from afar and its silhoutte could easily be mistaken for a Ficus. It grew on an (apparent) barren area filled with construction debris and ofcouse plastic. Some really determined tree lover had identified the species so now we all know of it and can keep track of its health.

Without much ado, here is the Shrebera swietenioides aka Mokha in marathi of the Oleaceae family. 

Lady Luck was with me, so I found parking space and scrambled over the mounds to reach the tree. 

 

Time For Change (ThursdayTreeLove)

This year, Pune had a severe summer , monsoon set in early and is in retreat mode now. 

Mornings are chilly and our walk on tekdi is more beautiful if that's possible! As the Sun moves southwards, it's rays pierce the foliage giving these amazing streaks.

People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy."
- Anton Chekhov

This quote seemed apt for the morning scene. Do you agree?

I am joining Parul in her ThursdayTreeLove bloghop. Do head over to see amazing trees from around the world. Better still, join in!