Dracula simia: A primate in the orchid family

You can call it as monkey orchid or monkey-like Dracula.
Its an epiphytic orchid native to Mexico,Central America,Peru and Colombia.

A pack of stems arises from a short rhizome and each stem bears a single large ,thin  dark green leaf with a well-defined midrib.
Unlike other orchids, it lacks the pseudobulbs.
The plant blooms irrespective of the season with many flowers on the inflorescence.The stalk of the inflorescence develops from the base of the plant.

The flowers vary in colors.
The flowers are  basically triangular in shape and are fragrant, smelling like a ripe orange.

 


Like all orchids ,the fruits produced are capsules.
The petals and sepals are arranged such that the flower resembles a monkey face.And so it got the name the monkey flower.

The flowers of the genus Dracula has  a long tail (long spur) on each sepal and most of the flowers are blood red in color bcoz of which they have got the name Dracula which literally means "the dragon".

Dracula simia is a rare plant commonly used as an ornamental plant. 

Monotropa uniflora: the ghost or corpse plant

Also known as the 'Indian pipe'.
Its a  herbaceous plant found in regions of Russia ,Asia ,North and South America.
This plant is rare in occurrence.

The characteristic feature of this plant is that it doesn't contain chlorophyll making it a parasite and white in colour. 

Its found in association with mycorrhizal fungi( mainly with the Beech trees).
The stem is white waxy covered by scale like leaves and bear a single flower.


Flowers are found pointing towards the ground which prevents the the rainwater from entering into the flower(but the older flowers turns up to ensure successful pollination).
Flower is with 3 to 5 petals and yellow stamens.

At the base of the stamen there is a pair of nub like nectaries inviting the insects




Flowering is usually after the rainfall.

They produce capsule fruits and after the fruit formation the plant turns brown to black in colour.
So now you have a plant to add ,to your ghost archive.....

White as an Indian Pipe

Red as a Cardinal Flower

Fabulous as a Moon at Noon

February Hour-

                                 Emily Dickinson

BIRD OF PARADISE

You must have heard about' birds of paradise ' ..the birds with the most beautiful ,differently colored plumage and so, called the birds of heaven....
And here I am  talking about a bird of paradise which isn't a bird but a plant... the Strelitzia .

 

Strelitzia flower

Strelitzia is a plant native to South Africa of only 5 species.
They are commonly known as crane flower and is the floral emblem of the city of Los Angeles.
The leaves are broad and large with a long petiole forming a fan like crown.

Flowering is from May to September and produces flowers in an inflorescence with a stout spathe.The flower made of  variously (green or red) colored bracts in a series forming canoe (narrow boat)like structures which bears yellow or orange (sometimes purplish blue or white )colored petals.

 
The bright color of these flowers gives it a resemblance to the brightly colored bird of paradise.
They are pollinated by sunbirds, which on landing on the spathe helps in releasing the pollens.

The fruit is a capsule with many seeds with an orange tuft of hairs(aril).

They are now a common ornamental plant making our earth a paradise.

MOREA VILLOSA: THE PEACOCK IRIS

Everyone admires the beauty of a peacock dancing in rain and it is in its dance and its beautiful colored plumage but how many you know the flower with  peacock feathers ?
Yes in our mother nature there is a plant with this beauty... the Morea villosa.

The  petals of this flower have crescent-shaped bands of navy,blue and green color towards its inner edge resembling a peacock feather.

The plant is endemic to western cape(a province of South Africa).The plant is known by its hairy stems and leaves which are long and often longer than the stem.
Usually ,a single narrow leaf arises from the base of the stem
Flowering is from August to September producing large showy flowers with three large petals and a nectary at the base.
Morea flowers may be of different colors but  purple is common.
Anthers are attached to the underside of the style branches.

The flowers are pollinated by monkey beetles or hopliini beetles(the band color of petals mimics the color of beetles).

Male and Female monkey beetles

After pollination,the flower remains for several days and produce fruits which are cylindrical capsules.Propagation also done through their bulbs.

Seeds of Morea

The peacock morea is included in the list of vulnerable plants as there is a chance of this plant to get extinct bcoz of its large attractive flower.....

KRISHNA KAMALAM: A flower representing the whole family of Veda Vyasa

Passiflora

Passiflora is also known as passion flowers or passion vines with about 500 species and has a pantropical distribution (tropical regions of all continents).

They are mostly vines and shrubs with hairy stem and leaves.
Leaves are used as food by many species of butterflies and moth.To prevent the butterflies from laying may eggs on a single plant ,some passion flowers bear small coloured nubs resembling their eggs fooling them  that more eggs have already been deposited.

Also,many species produce a sweet liquid attracting which kill most of the pest feeding on the flowers.

Flowering in July producing flowers with a unique structure.

In most of the species ,flowers require large bees like bumble bees,carpenter bees or humming birds for effective pollination.

In some species, the flowers are also covered with hairs secreting the sticky liquid.

They produce a round or oval berry with a juicy interior filled with seeds.

 
This flower has a significance in Hindu mythology

the 100 blue petals represent the 100 Kauravas,
the 3 green or yellow anther at the centre represent the three Pandavas,
the 3 pistils(violet) at the centre represents the holy trinity- Vishnu ,Brahma ,Maheshwar,
the green bulb( ovary) represents Draupadi and at the centre you see small filaments radiating out which represents the Sudarshan chakra of Lord Vishnu.

Beside this, it is also compared to the crown(of thorns) of Jesus,its blue colour to that of Lord Krishna, sometimes to the Kurukshetra...
In any ways, it is one of the magnificent flowers in nature...

NAKED MAN ORCHID: THE UNBLUSHING PLANT OF ORCHID FAMILY

Orchid italica(Italian orchid)

We can see the real naughtiness of nature in this orchid.

Italian orchid is a species of orchid native to Mediterranean.

The plant grows up to 50 centimeters with large leaves at the base.
Flowering in July producing pink colored ,densely clustered  flowers.

Their petals look like a hanging naked man.






The root of this plant considered edible and used in making beverages.
The orchid has anti-diarrheal properties and also used in smoothing of  the skin.

In fairy lore, it is said that this orchid trapped the fairies, may be bcoz the petals looked like a fairy and it is also said that the fairies like to play around this orchid.

THE DOVE ORCHID OR THE FLOWER OF HOLY SPIRIT

Peristeria elata

An epiphytic orchid found across Central and South America ,also in Panama.
This orchid is the national flower of Panama republic.

 

The plant has ovoid pseudobulbs( bulb-like storage organs developed from stem)  with stripped leaves at its apex.

Flowering is from July to October.Flowers emerges from the base of these bulbs and usually there are 4 to 12 flowers with a fragrance similar to that of beer.
The flowers marble white in color with yellow colored pistils and anthers.

The central part of the flower is Dove shaped (reason for its name).

The flower is pollinated by bees and  it has modified itself to ensure pollination.
Flower lips(the wings and the tail of dove) are hinged and on landing ,the bee is thrown against the column(head and the neck of Dove).Then the lips hold the bee and the pollinarium(coherent mass of pollen grains) is attached to its thorax.




They produce ellipsoid fruits in dry season.

Because of its beauty ,this plant is in a danger of extinction and so included in the list of endangered species.