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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Friday, October 23, 2009

Glory Lily



Common name: Glory Lily, Gloriosa lily, Tiger claw, claw
Botanical name: Gloriosa superba
Family: Liliaceae (Lily family)
Synonyms: Gloriosa rothschildiana, Gloriosa speciosa, Gloriosa simplex 



Glory Lily is a most unusual and splendid flower, which is a sight to behold. In bud, the pale green petals face downward. As the blossom matures, the petals elongate and wrinkle and gradually arch backward while sequencing through a spectrum of color from green to yellow to scarlet. The stamens are extremely prominent and spread outward in graceful curves that follow the petals in their backward progression. The flower is 3-5 in in length. Glory Lily is a twining vine that is able to climb up with tendrils formed at the tips of the leaves. Leaves are bright green and lance shape, 2-3 in. long. The leaf tip elongates into a slender tendril that coils around nearby supports to get a grip. A postal stamp was issued by the Indian Postal Department to commemorate this flower.

Passion Flower


The Passion Flower (Passiflora), a fast-growing perennial vine, with showy white and purple-blue scented flowers. Passion flower is tropical flower, native to southern Brazil and Argentina. It is also widely found from Virginia to southern Illinois and southeast Kansas, south to Florida and Texas in USA.
Passion flower is also known by other common names viz., Passion Vine, Maracuja, Apricot Vine, Maypop, etc. Passion Flower is 10 cm wide, with the five sepals and petals. The corona in the flower is blue or with violet filaments. Passion flowers have five greenish-yellow stamens and three purple stigmas.
Passion flowers are known to have have a high medicinal value. Passion flower has a tranquilizing effect, including mild sedative and anti-anxiety effects. The sedative effect of Passion flower has made it popular for treating a variety of ailments, including nervousness and insomnia.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Some Spiders....


Opadometa fastigata (Simon, 1877)

Family: Tetragnathidae
Size: 7-9 mm.
Distribution: India, Philippines.
Habitat: Low shrubs in shaded and moist environments.
These are orb web builders in shaded vegetation. The cephalothorax is flat which is pale yellow, darkens medially and towards the margin. Pedicel joins the abdomen some distance along the ventral side. Front of the abdomen of the female tapers strongly and overhangs most of the carapace. The abdomen is tubular, tapers to the front and protrudes to the rear over the spinnerets. There are silver white patches all over the abdomen. The legs are long and thin with dark brown annulations. Femora IV with uniform rakes of long curved trichobothria. There is also a substantial brush of hairs all round or almost all along tibia IV.





Nephila maculata (Fabricius) 1793

Family: Tetragnathidae
Size: Female: 50-60 mm; Male: 5-6 mm.
Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, China, Japan, Northern Australia.
Habitat: Primary and secondary forests, wasteland and gardens.
The cephalothorax is thin and flat with the cephalus raised. At the rear of the cephalus, there are two short horn-like projections. The abdomen is long, rounded, widest and truncated in the front, narrowing gradually to a rounded posterior. The abdomen covers pedicel and spinnerets. The legs are very long. The front legs are about twice as long as the spider, thin, brittle and swollen at the joints. There is a longitudinal row of short spines on the femora. Carapace is black and covered with very short silvery hairs. The abdomen is black with yellow longitudinal bands. The male is reddish brown in colour and hangs on the edge of the web and is very smaller than the female.



Nephila kuhlii Doleschall, 1859

Family: Tetragnathidae
Size: Female: 50-60 mm; Male: 5-6 mm.
Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, China, Japan, Northern Australia.
Habitat: Primary and secondary forests, wasteland and gardens.
The cephalothorax is thin and flat with the cephalus raised. At the rear of the cephalus, there are two short horn-like projections. The abdomen is long, rounded, widest and truncated in the front, narrowing gradually to a rounded posterior. The abdomen covers pedicel and spinnerets. The legs are very long and red in colour. The front legs are about twice as long as the spider, thin, brittle and swollen at the joints. There is a longitudinal row of short spines on the femora. Carapace and abdomen is black in colour. The male is reddish brown in colour and hangs on the edge of the web and is very smaller than the female.

Information borrowed from - www.southindianspiders.org






Friday, October 9, 2009