Today's Flower- The Cannon Ball Tree

 The Cannon Ball tree has highly scented, beautiful flowers. It is a native of India and tropical America. It is revered by the Buddhists and Hindus as a tree which gave shade to the Buddha.

It is known as the Naga-linga tree locally, because the flower has a structure similar to the hood of the Naga (cobra). One can see easily why it is called the Cannon ball tree, if one sees the big round fruit.
My thanks to the team of Today's Flowers.
I am also joining ABC Wednesday, started by Mrs.Nesbitt and being managed by Roger and others.

Our Beautiful World

Butterflies make our world beautiful. The Lime butterfly's larvae feed on the leaves of the lime plant, but the adult is so beautiful that one can forgive it for destroying the plant.

 The heart shape of the Common Wanderer makes it a subject for St.Valentin's Day cards.

 The male Eggfly butterfly has large 'eyes' on its wings to warn the predators away.

The Common Sailor sails high with an occasional flicker of its wings.
My thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday.

Today's Flowers

 A gardenia flowered for the first time in my garden last week. It has a heady scent.

 Camellia is also flowering now. It is a rose like flower, but no perfume.

 Bignonia venusta has climbed up my teak tree and is flowering profusely. The bright orange colour and the generous portion of nectar each flower has, attracts many pollinators .

You can see some beautiful flowers in Today's Flowers.

A for Arches

Many of the historic monuments in India have beautiful arches, like the one above. It is an unfinished palace of a 15th century Sultan of Bijapur.

 These arches are in a mosque built in the 15th century, near Mandu.

These arches grace the palace of Tipu Sultan in Bangalore. It was built in the 18th century.
This is my contribution to the Absolutely wonderful meme ABC Wednesday, started by Mrs.Nesbitt, and ably being carried forward by Roger.

Winter in the Tropics

A foggy winter morning in Mumbai. The early morning temperature was 13C, which made us shiver!
My thanks to the team of Our World Tuesday, where you can see what the others are doing.

Today's Flowers

 Cockscombs are fascinating flowers which come in all colours. Their velvety texture is another feature in favour of them.

This is my contribution to Today's Flowers, which showcases beautiful flowers from all over the world.

Our World- Environment Protectors

 This colony of bats is presumed to be there on these trees in the campus of IIT Bombay since 60 years. Every evening they go out into the city to hunt for insects and return at dawn.

There have been great changes around the colony- huge building complexes have come up, an expressway with a constant stream of traffic is right next to the trees. Fortunately, the bats are still holding on to their territory.I hope they will never be forced to leave their property.
I thank the team of Our World Tuesday, where you can get fascinating glimpses of other parts of our world.

Happy New Year!

http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com