Saturday, March 13, 2010

The Golden Shower Tree

The Golden Shower tree Cassia fistula has already started blooming now. Called Vishu in Malayalam, it is a sacred tree of the Malayalees and the State tree of Kerala state. It is an integral poart of the Hindu solar new year Vishu, which falls on April 14.
The tree becomes covered with chandeliers of yellow gold flowers in March- April. The leaves are hardly seen during this time. The tree attracts lots of birds and bees. The tree is a native of India, and grows wild all over the sub continent. Tou can see the grape like clusters of yellow flowers in fields and forests if you drive down to Mysore in this season.

The Amaltas, as it is known in Hindi, is extensively used in Ayurveda for curing many ailments from flatulence to leprosy. A tea made of the flowers is a mild and safe laxative.


6 comments:

  1. At last, something whose beauty runs deep!

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  2. Beautiful flowers. They look so lovely.

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  3. You area certainly has nice trees. I love to see trees flowering. This tree is no exception. Love the showers of yellow blooms here. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. This is a tree I loved when I was young.

    http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.com/2010/05/yellow-mellow-golden-shower-tree.html

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  5. This tree is called 'hunaru' ie golden tree in assamese.

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  6. MY.
    ....... ALL TIME FAVOURITE NATIVE FLORA::::
    ....... I.E. ......
    ....... "SONALU" OR "BANDAR LATHI"..
    ....... in .. OUR...... SONAR BANGLA DESH.

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