Insectivorous Plant- Bladderwort

 I came across these Striped Bladderwort plants last weekend while walking in the Western Ghats.They get their necessary protein by consuming small insects .The leeches got at me  while trying to photograph them. They had their fill of protein anyway.

The botanical name of this plant is Utricularia striatula, belonging to the family Lentibulariaceae.

Foxtail Orchid

 The Foxtail orchid Rhynchostylis retusa is called Kopou phool in Assam, and Draupadi Dande in Karnataka.It flowers profusely just before the onset of the monsoons. The flowers are arranged close together so that they resemble a fox's tail.

The Foxtail orchid is a native of India and SriLanka. It occurs in the forests of the Western Ghats in the wild. The beautiful flowers last almost a month.
The plant has medicinal uses.

Tree Turmeric- Berberis aristata

You find the Tree turmeric flowering all along the toad in the Himalayan foothills in May. The attractive yellow flowers  are buzzing with bees, When the fruits appear, the bushes look pretty.

The Tree Turmeric is also found in Kerala. It has many uses in Ayurveda.

Wrightia

 Wrightia tinctoria is a small tree native to India. It has mildly scented white flowers which seem like snowflakes from a distance.Wrightia is named after a Scottish physician William Wright(1740-1827)

Wrightia is a very useful as well as ornamental tree.The leaves are used to extract a blue dye known as Pala indigo. The bark and leaves are used in Ayurveda medicine system for skin diseases like psoriasis.
My thanks to Mrs.Nesbitt and her team of ABCWednesday.

Combretum rotundifolium

 The Monkey Brush, Combretum rotundifolium  has stunningly beautiful inflorescence. It is a vine, which can be trimmed to have a bushy habit. The colour of the inflorescence ranges from yellow to orange to red, making the whole plant look spectacular

Thiss combretum is a native of South America, and it has adjusted nicely to our tropical conditions.

Hardy Hopbush

The Hardy Hopbush Dodonaea viscosa is distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions. In Australia, it was used in the preparation of beer, hence the name 'Hopbush'.It is a plant which can grow happily in arid regions. The wood is tough, and is used to make tools and farm implements.
Dodonaea is called Netrani in Kannada, and has many medicinal uses. The leaves are used for tooth ache.
The winged capsules change colour from light green to maroon red.
Dodonaea is named after the 16th century French botanist Dodoens. Viscosa means sticky in Latin.

Dazzling Dahlia

 Dahlia is a native of tropical America, but it has happily made India its home. There are around 36 species of Dahlia. There are the pretty single flowers and  the dazzling dinner plate varieties.  The colours range from purple to white,  in the hybrid varieties.

 Since they have eight sets of chromosomes, unlike other plants which have only two.

Dahlia is named after the scientist Anders Dahl.