Monday, September 17, 2012

Butterflies of Lahore - Indian Fritillary

Indian Fritillary Argyreus hyperbius is a not a common butterfly of Punjab. It is originally a butterfly of cool climate and northern areas, migrate to southern plains in winter.
Indian Fritillary Argyreus hyperbius
I captured this butterfly in Spring in Lawrence gardens lahore, it was on a Helichrysum paper flower

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Monday, September 10, 2012

Flowers of Rose cactus and Dwarf white bauhinia

There are two unusual plants i saw recently, both blooming in late summer here. Both were blooming profusely. It is a delight to see some new perennials flowering in the summer heat of lahore. Here they go.

Rose cactus with botanic name Pereskia grandifolia is basically a cactus but a tree flowering cactus. It can attain a height of more than 15 feet and an equal spread. The main attraction is its beautiful flowers. Apparently they look like camellia but they are not.
rose cactus Pereskia grandifolia

Another uncommon flower is this Bauhinia (Kachnar). Generally we have only one white bauhinia which is Bauhinia Alba and it does not bloom in summer here. This white bauhinia is dwarf and starts blooming at an early stage when only few feet high. The main advantage is, it blooms when no other bauhinia is blooming. This is dwarf white bauhinia possibly Bauhinia acuminata
dwarf white bauhinia Bauhinia acuminata

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Sunday, September 2, 2012

Flowers of Ivy Gourd, Desert petunia and Firecracker

There are many shrubs and plants which suit very well to the hot climates like lahore but very under rated. Perhaps they are common but the beauty of these common flowers is not given the appreciation which they deserve.

Take for example an Ivy ground flower. Although not famous as an ornamental plant for its flowers but just take a look at its flower which is as pretty as it goes.
ivy gourd flower

Another plant having unusual blue color and blooming in the high summer heat is desert petunia. Not related to petunia but flower shape is similar to petunia and it is very heat tolerant as well. Botanic name is Ruellia brittoniana
desert petunia Ruellia brittoniana

Another plant and one of the few which flower in summer months of lahore is firecracker flower with botanic name Crossandra infundibuliformis. There are two more colors of this beautiful flower that i know of, yellow and purple.This one is orange and flowers very early of age.
firecracker flower Crossandra infundibuliformis

This post is included in Macro monday hosted by Lisa's Chaos. Do visit here blog for other fabulous macro shots

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