Nagalingam tree with Flowers in Bloom -sheer beauty of Mother Nature.
The pics were taken just after Vasant Panchami, on 13th Feb and it is just 4 weeks away to Shree MahaShivratri-- It is a marvel of Mother Nature that she heralds the season and Shivratri with the symbolic flowers -now in tiny buds and just starting to bloom.
These trees are grown extensively in Shiva temples in India.
Also in some schools and parks- It is called the 'nagalingam' tree in Tamil.
The flowers are also called 'Shivalinga flowers', 'Nagalinga Pushpa' in Kannada, 'Nagamalli flowers' or 'Mallikarjuna flowers' in Telugu. It is considered a sacred tree among Hindus because the flower resembles a naga i.e.a sacred snake on the central large shiva lingam and numerous shivalingams around.
All the photos below were taken on 13th Feb 2011 at Old Woodlands Drive In--
now the Semozzi Park
Om Namaha Shivayah.
To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
from-William Blake
Both the fruit and the flower grow from stalks which sprout from the trunk of the tree. Cannonball Tree flowers are found on thick tangled extrusions that grow on the trunk of the tree; these are found just below the foliage branches.
Tiny buds appear -showing that soon flowers with fragrance will be on the Tree.
QUOTE" There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.--
UNQUOTE from Linda Hogan.
-OM Namaha Shivayah-
Rgds
TR
The pics were taken just after Vasant Panchami, on 13th Feb and it is just 4 weeks away to Shree MahaShivratri-- It is a marvel of Mother Nature that she heralds the season and Shivratri with the symbolic flowers -now in tiny buds and just starting to bloom.
These trees are grown extensively in Shiva temples in India.
Also in some schools and parks- It is called the 'nagalingam' tree in Tamil.
The flowers are also called 'Shivalinga flowers', 'Nagalinga Pushpa' in Kannada, 'Nagamalli flowers' or 'Mallikarjuna flowers' in Telugu. It is considered a sacred tree among Hindus because the flower resembles a naga i.e.a sacred snake on the central large shiva lingam and numerous shivalingams around.
All the photos below were taken on 13th Feb 2011 at Old Woodlands Drive In--
now the Semozzi Park
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
from-William Blake
QUOTE" There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.--
UNQUOTE from Linda Hogan.
Botanical Name : Couroupita guianensis
Family : Lecythidaceae
Hindi : Nagalinga नागलिंग , Tope gola तोप गोला
Kannada : Lingada mara, Nagalingam
Marathi : Sivalingam
Tamil : நாகலிங்கம் Naagalingam
Malayalam: Nagalingam.
Family : Lecythidaceae
Hindi : Nagalinga नागलिंग , Tope gola तोप गोला
Kannada : Lingada mara, Nagalingam
Marathi : Sivalingam
Tamil : நாகலிங்கம் Naagalingam
Malayalam: Nagalingam.
Rgds
TR
Te Fruit resembles a Cannon ball-So in English it is called the Cannon Ball Tree!!
ReplyDeleteI saw one recently in January in Goregaon, Mumbai-but my photo was poor as the sunlight had faded. (I am an amateur photographer and not too familiar with light & Camera settings)
TR
FROM SOURCES:
ReplyDeleteThe Nagalingam Tree has antibiotic, antifungal, antiseptic and analgesic qualities. The trees are used to cure colds and stomach aches. Juice made from the leaves is used to cure skin diseases, and shamans of South America have even used tree parts for treating malaria.
The inside of the fruit can disinfect wounds and young leaves ease toothache
Nagalingam Tree flowers do not have nectar, so these flowers are mainly visited by bees in search of pollen; outside the native range of habitat, carpenter bees are considered to be the principal pollinators.
Both the fruit and the flower grow from stalks which sprout from the trunk of the tree. Cannonball Tree flowers are found on thick tangled extrusions that grow on the trunk of the tree; these are found just below the foliage branches. The extrusions however, can range from two to six feet in length. The flowers are attached to an upwardly bent, white fleshy disk. The flowers have six petals, which are large, orange-red, and strongly perfumed. In pollination, fertile stamens can be found in a ring around reduced style and stamens. The sterile pollen is located in the anthers. As a bee enters to pollinate the flower, its back rubs against the ring with fertile pollen; this allows the bee to carry the fertile pollen to another flower. The differences in the pollen was noticed by French botanist Antoine Porteau in 1825. The differences in the pollen are as follows: the pollen of the ring stamens is fertile, while the hood pollen is sterile.
[edit] Fruits and dispersal
The tree gets its common name from the large, spherical fruits it produces. The fruit falls from the tree and cracks open when it hits the ground when mature, often causing the sound of a small explosion. The fruit emits an unpleasant aroma when exposed to the air. Individual seeds within the "ball" are coated with hair, which is thought to protect the seed when it is ingested and may also help in the passage of the seed through the intestines.
Like coconut palms, the trees should not be planted near paths or near traffic-filled areas, as the heavy nut is known to fall without notice.
Can any one say that how to get seed of this tree.
ReplyDelete