RAJYALAKSHMI RAMAPRASAD and PLANTS

Rama Prasad, Rajyalakshmi and Nirmala, whose inputs are curated below.

RAJYALAKSHMI  RAMAPRASAD  and  PLANTS

TREES  and  PLANTS  --  the green gods

Mrs. V. S. Rajyalakshmi, M.Sc. (Botany),  Former Asst Professor, Vellalar College for Women, Erode

Dr. T. Rama Prasad,  Director,  'PAY WHAT YOU  CAN'  Clinic,  Perundurai

Mrs. T. Nirmala Devi, M.Sc. (Botany), Former HOD & Professor, Maris Stella College, Vijayawada

                I got obsessively interested in PLANT KINGDOM, perhaps, because my better half (Rajyalakshmi) and my sister (Nirmala) are botanists.  They studied together B.Sc. and M.Sc. (Botany) as classmates, and worked in teaching faculties in the same speciality.  Passionately interested in plants, for over half-a-century, we three used to visit the famous flora in 'Gardens by the Bay' in Singapore where Nirmala's daughters resided.   We are immensely grateful to Er. G. Palani who took us around gardens in Singapore and Malaysia with great affection and patience.  We exchange notes on plants, and some of it is in the following pages.  To read more about our interest in plants, go to :  https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-love-story-good-old-days_30.html  .

                                                          --  Dr. T. Rama Prasad

Er. G. Palani who navigated us around gardens in Singapore and Malaysia affectionately   and enthusiastically.  Thanks to you, Er. Palani sir.

PLANT  KINGDOM

                

        Kingdom Plantae is broadly composed of four evolutionarily related groups: bryophytes (mosses), seedless vascular plants, gymnosperms (cone bearing seed plants), and angiosperms (flowering seed plants).  The word 'KINGDOM' reminds me of the origin of the name 'RAJYALAKSHMI'.  'Rajyalakshmi' means 'Wealth of a kingdom'.  To know more about the name 'Rajyalakshmi', visit : https://www.moonastro.com/babyname/baby%20name%20rajyalakshmi%20meaning.aspx

                 

"Growing trees is the best preventive medicine."                                            -- T. Rama Prasad

Most of the diseases we have, including 'COVID-19, are due to the ecological imbalance we created outside and inside the forests angering Mother Nature.

Please click on the link below and see how amazingly a tree is relocated
https://www.facebook.com/ritemail/videos/472558632859095/

There are several FACES sketched in this TREE.  Can you identify the outstanding personalities  ?

 

                    June 21. 2023 :  The name of the plants in our bedroom (see the photo above) is Sansevieria Zeylanica (trifasciata).  It also goes by the common name 'Snake Plant' or 'Mother-in-law's Tongue' !  A study conducted at NASA (USA) showed that this kind of plant (Sansevieria laurentil) purifies air.  This plant increases Oxygen and decreases  Carbon dioxide at night.  It   absorbs cancer-producing toluene, xylene, benzene, formaldehyde, etc.  Apart from being a 'Lucky Plant' in Feng Shui, it is known to improve quality of sleep and mental wellbeing.  It may reduce problems due to allergens.   Most of the claimed benefits may be due to improvement in the quality of air in the room.  We are keeping the plants in our bedroom mainly to enhance decor and aesthetic appeal.  To know more about the benefits, click on : https://floristkid.com/benefits-of-snake-plants/  .

AGLAONEMA plants are not only stunningly attractive but also grown in Asia for centuries for the benefits of health and prosperity (Feng Shui).

The wall outside my consultation room, in good old days.

The same wall,  in 2023.    Sing a dirge to the plants.

CALADIUM PLANTS at our home on this 'Teachers Day'.  Am I teaching the plants ?  Now the NATURE is teaching us a lesson.  The world would have been as colourful as these plants today, had not the humans selfishly destroyed NATURE and thus invited COVID.  We thought we were masters of the planet.  COVID's lesson is that we are mere guests !!!  --  Dr. T. Rama Prasad,  PAY WHAT YOU CAN  Clinic,  Perundurai.  

Caladums are native to South America and Central America. Annual festival of caladiums is held in July in Florida (Lake Placid) They are also known by the names: 'Elephant Ear', 'Ear of Jesus', 'Angel Wings', etc. You can see the gorgeous colours and stunning patterns in the attached video.

This is just to show you a rare feature of a common Anthurium plant grown inside our home.  It has sent down over a dozen roots of around 20 feet length from the hanging basket near the ceiling to the flooring !!!  --  V. S. Rajyalakshmi  &  T. Rama Prasad.   Sept 7, 2020

We created this little piece of garden, by the side of the road near   our residence,  for the visual pleasure of the public.  Rajyalakshmi rented this bit of land for this environmental beautification --  MAKE INDIA BEAUTIFUL.  I painted a bit of a wall in the background with figures of trees.  This pleasant ambience takes away half the pain of waiting and a bit of the agony due to  disease.

 INSIDE  HOME

Clad in crisp cotton green, with greenery around.  Stag-horn fern in the foreground.  Pothas creeper climbing to the ceiling. 24.4.2020.

This tiny roadside greenery is my New Year gift to the public.

         'Nature' is god.  Even if you have no belief in god,  you have to believe that your life is sustained by trees and plants -- because it is a fact.  And,  what is life without trees and plants ?  By tinkering with'Nature' we have not only caused an ecological imbalance in nature, but also jeopardised our health.  Many of the diseases we are suffering from, the drought, the floods, the cyclones, the earthquakes, etc  are due to inadequate green coverage and destroying the environment.  

          Due to a perceived need we have converted green landscapes into concrete jungles which emanate noxious elements into the environment which kill us slowly.  We are now (2020) being killed fast too by COVID-19 which is indirectly due to destruction of nature.  We are advised to keep a distance from the virus and from one another.  It may mean that we are the viruses -- so we keep the following "TRAVEL  DISTANCING !"

          Yes, we are the real viruses killing the environment

           and facilitating all the disasters mentioned above

So, dear ones, go to the basics:  'save the nature and save the planet' -- not just 'corona distancing'.

   

SMILING  STAFF  IN  OUR  ROADSIDE GARDEN

TAKING  CARE  OF  PATIENTS  AND  PLANTS

This small bit of roadside vegetation is my 'Pongal (Sankranthi)' gift to the public.

We used a few plants and a terracotta stand to create this caricature.

Does it look like a GREEN  CORONAVIRUS !

On 23.06.2021,  I picked up a few waste pieces from our junk yard and assembled this "Pipe of Plants" !  -- T. Rama Prasad

I kept the fruits in the foreground to give an idea about the size of the plant in the tub of water.  HYDROPONICS is a kind of growing plants without soil.  Nutrients are added to the water medium.  400 litres of water is required normally to get 1 kg of tomatoes.  In hydroponic cultivation, only 70 litres are needed.  AEROPONICS and FOGPONICS are variants of such cultivations. All these have many limitations, and as such they are not widely used.

This leaf, of a length of about 3 feet, of Anthurium crystallinum is believed to have attained this extraordinary size through "Energy Transfer" ( go to  

Physically, coronavirus, looks like a ball of sun with a circle of corona of spikes -- thus derives its name.  I identified 3 kinds of flowers which are 'lookalikes' of coronavirus -- (1) Haemanthus / Scadoxus multiflorus  (2)  Sphaeranthus indicus  (3)  Memecylon edule !!!

          


Fifty years ago (1967),  the vegetation in the 'Sanatorium Campus' of 326 acres enticed me to take up the job of a Medical Officer.   And,  I lived with those trees and plants for over 35 years.   

At that time,  I saw a close coexistence of two trees of different species (neem & peepal) at the base of which was there a small idol of Vinayagar.  I had seen them growing stonger and bigger over half-a-century.  On the Vinayaga Charurthi day this year (2017),  I visited them again.    The photo below  is that of these two 'friend-trees' taken on this festival day (25.08.2017).  The 'Sanatorium Staff' members took the initiative and constructed a pucca temple in the adjacent area for the Vinayagar. 

         

         

          

           Traditionally, these two kinds of trees - neem and peepal- are grown in the precincts of temples.  There may be some logical purpose in choosing them apart from the mythological considerations.  

FICUS trees

         In the Hindu mythology, some trees belonging to the Ficus genus (Ficus religiosa - Peepal,  Ficus benghalensis - Banyan,  Ficus benghalensis var. krishnae - Krishna Fig, Krishna Butter Cup) of Moraceae family are considered sacred and worshipped.  Various beliefs exist -- ancestors' souls stay on these trees;  Vishnu stayed safe in these trees when demons defeated gods;  Vishnu was born under a peepal tree;  Peepal tree houses Trimurti, roots-Brahma, trunk-Vishnu, leaves-Shiva; Goddess Saraswathi originated from a peepal tree;  Goddess Sita was sheltered by Peepal tree;  Goddess Lakshmi stays on Peepal tree on Saturdays; and so on (Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, Skanda Purana, Rigveda Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, etc.).

Women performing Vata-puja rituals around a Banyan tree

'FICUS KRISHNA'

          The Ficus religiosa tree (Peepal) is closely linked to Lord Krishna who was believed to have ended his avataar under this tree, after which the present Kaliyuga is said to have begun.  It is also believed that he will reside in a Peepal leaf after Pralayam till the next world is created.  

          To my pleasant surprise, on April 19, 2019,  I saw one very rarely seen variety of Ficus tree in the campus of 'THE UNIQUE ACADEMY'  ICSE & ISC school in Ingur, Perundurai.  This variety is called "Ficus benghalensis var. Krishnae."   It is also known as 'Krishna Fig' and 'Krishna Butter cup'.  The leaves of this variety of Ficus are very peculiarly shaped as though the edges of the leaf are folded back and fused to form cone-shaped or cup-shaped cavities -- see the photos below of the leaf and the tree I visited at that school.  

Botanical name: Ficus benghalensis var. krishnae    Family: Moraceae (Mulberry family)
Synonyms: Ficus krishnae

---

Krishna Fig is a very large, fast growing, evergreen tree up to 30 m tall, with spreading branches and many aerial roots. Leaves stalked, ovate heart-shaped, 3 nerved, when young velvety on both sides. The unique feature of the tree is that the leaves have a pocket-like fold at the base. Leaf stalks with a broad smooth greasy gland at the apex, compressed, downy. The plant is also known as Krishna Butter Cup. As with most things in India, there is a mythological story of Krishna related to the leaves of this tree. The story goes that Lord Krishna was very fond of butter and would even steal it. Once when he was caught by his mother, Yashoda, he tried to hide the butter by rolling it up in a leaf of this tree. Since then, the leaves of these trees have retained this shape.

 Perhaps, that's why it was named as 'Krishna Butter Cup'.

FICUS  BONSAI  --  Feb 3, 2021

The 'root-stem' of this plant looks like a frog-like animal.  Or a bird ?  This is a potted 'Bonsai Plant' of ficus (banyan) species.  What is seen in the photo is the bottom 'root-stem' part.  Above it are the branches and leaves.  This plant is with Vajravel of Surabhi Nursery, Erode.  Cultivating interesting shapes of 'Bonsai Plants' is a great art involving years and decades of patient pruning and shaping.

MEXICAN  CALABASH ('Thiruvodu maram')

A rare variety of tree found in Delta region, the Mexican Calabash, referred to as “thiruvodu maram” in Tamil, has been transplanted from Municipal Colony to Keezhavasal area in Thanjavur.

The 15-feet high tree was spotted by some `sivanadiyars’ (followers of Lord Siva) on the roadside at Municipal Colony 6th street. As they were interested in preserving the tree, which gives the fruit used for making “thiruvodu” considered as an auspicious bowl by the ‘sivanadiyars,’ they sought the help of Kavaskara Street Youth Association at Keezhavasal. This association had revived a defunct waterbody ‘Azhagikulam’ in their area, recently.

The association readily accepted the request from the ‘sivanadiyars’ and transplanted the tree on the northern bank of the ‘Azhagikulam’ tank on Friday. The tree was transplanted near the Sri Valampuri Vinayagar Temple on the northern bank of ‘Azhagikulam’ amidst recitation of hymns from ‘Thevaram’ by the ‘sivanadiyars’ (The Hindu, September 1, 2019).

         

             Over a period of 35 years,  we had grown various trees and plants in that campus (Sanatorium / Medical College campus).  Our residential area inside the campus used to be called 'a mini-botanical garden'.   Rajyalakshmi used to go for teaching in the Vellalar College for Women in a car with PLANTS in the space behind the backseat, visible through the backside  glass shield -- an identity for her car !  We planted 20 saplings of 'Royal Palm' trees in front of the medical college building when the college was opened.  Now, around 20 years later, you can see 18 of them (in the photo below) as splendidly grown-up trees graciously reaching the fourth floor of the building.

We planted the saplings of these trees in front of the Perundurai Medical College building around 20 years ago  when the building was ready for occupation.  This photo was taken in 2017 when I went there to attend an academic programme.

The greenery at the entrance of the Perundurai Medical College was planted by me long ago

Talking about 'trees & plants' to motivate students to make India greener and healthier,  at an open auditorium surrounded by trees at the Vallal Dhasappa  Hostel at Gobi on August 20, 2017

TREES  ARE  PRICELESS.  But our materialistic mind fixes a price on everything.  Apart from biological benefits,  they give enormous visual and aesthetic benefits to the mind.  And we fix a price for the beauty of the trees and plants also.  For example,  what might be the cost of the tree in the photo below ?  

Rupees 5.6 lakh,  as priced by the nursery  !!!

The price of this 'BONSAI  TREE" was Rs. 5,60,000  !

Top 10 Benefits of Trees

mestes76 / Flickr

Can you put a price tag on a tree? Those who sell timber for paper and other products certainly do, but what about the worth of a living tree? When you add it all up, a tree’s price is incalculable. That didn’t stop Portland Parks & Recreation in Oregon from hanging actual price tags on trees in the community to give people a sense of the benefits they provide. What are those benefits? We picked ten of the most important:

1. Clean Air. Researchers at the Davey Institute found that urban trees and forests are saving an average of one life every year per city because of the particulates that they remove from the air. A study in the Journal of Preventative Medicine found that people experienced more deaths from heart disease and respiratory disease when they lived in areas where trees had disappeared. Trees are often referred to as the “lungs of the planet” because of the oxygen they provide to other living things.

2. Jobs. According to the U.S. Forest Service, recreation visitor spending in National Forests amounted to nearly $11 billion in 2012. All that economic activity sustains about 190,000 full- and part-time jobs. And that’s just in our National Forests!

3. Clean Water. Forests provide natural filtration and storage systems that process nearly two-thirds of the water supply in the United States. When you drink a glass of tap water in a New York City restaurant, you’re drinking water that was filtered largely by the forests of upstate New York. The forests do such a good job that the city only needs to do a minimum of additional filtering.

4. Carbon Sequestration. Burning fossil fuels puts heat-trapping carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, changing our climate in dangerous ways. Planting trees can slow down this process. A tree can absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, and can sequester one ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old.

5. Reduced Crime. Neighborhoods with abundant trees have significantly fewer crimes than those without. Researchers think that this is because green spaces have a calming effect and encourage people to spend more with their neighbors outdoors, bolstering community trust.

6. Increased Property Values. People are drawn to homes and businesses near trees. The proof is in the prices: property values are 7 percent to 25 percent higher for houses surrounded by trees and consumers spend up to 13 percent more at shops near green landscapes. 

7. Mental Health. Feeling down? Take a walk in the woods. Several studies have found that access to nature yields better cognitive functioning, more self-discipline, and greater mental health overall. One study even found that hospital patients who can see trees out their windows are hospitalized 8 percent fewer days than their counterparts.

8. Temperature Control. The shade and wind-breaking qualities that trees provide benefit everyone from the individual taking shelter from a hot summer day to entire cities. The annual mean air temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 1.8–5.4°F (1–3°C) warmer than its surroundings. Planting trees reduces this “heat island effect”. And households with shade trees could spend 12% less on cooling costs in the summer.

9. Flood Control. Trees can hold vast amounts of water that would otherwise stream down hills and surge along rivers into towns. That’s why trees are such an important part of stormwater management for many cities.

10. Wildlife Habitat. Wildlife use trees for food, shelter, nesting, and mating. These habitats support the incredible variety of living things on the planet, known as biodiversity. By protecting trees, we also save all the other plants and animals they shelter.

Learn more about the benefits of trees from our member organizations:

The Value of Trees to a Community, Arbor Day Foundation

Why it Matters, American Forests

Trees for Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation

Benefits of Tree Conservation, Scenic America

https://moreapp.com/en/blog/paper-facts/

At a tree (saplings) planting activity of Erode Thulirgal organisation

No food on the dining table,  but there is a grand feast of the forest trees all around in Kurumba Nature Resort (2017)

 TREES and PLANTS,   THE  ELIXIR  OF  LIFE

               It may be interesting to note that our ancestors adopted a concept of “vedic vanas” (sacred groves)  --  “Nakshatra Vana” with 27 plants representing 27 stars), “Raashi Vana” (12 plants representing 12 zodiac constellations, “Shiva Panchayatanavana (5 plants representing 5 elements),   “Navagraha Vana” (9 plants representing 9 planets),  “Ashta Dikpala Vana” (8 plants representing 8 directions), etc.  Life was an inextricable part of flora in those days.


         "These days, the green meadow, the pristine blue sky, vast landscape, hurrying streams,  gleaming orchards, the forest – the love of the fantastic, the magical, the serenity and the surreal --  and the gorgeous flowers are the elements of the sure route of escape from the world of chaos, stress, the mundane, the exasperating and the plain.  And yes, a sprinkle of faery dust in a frenetic consumerist day of intense stress, long working hours and fierce competition is a certain way of relief from the frustrations of life’s stumbling blocks.  In our quest to scale up our economic progress we had sacrificed them all."

Yes, we ( I & Rajyalakshmi ) did things in a different way.  We had been caring for the plants in this photograph  for a long time.  We christened the tall cactus (Ferrocactus ferrerae)  as “Sivalinga spiralis  /  God cactus”  as it looks like ‘Sivalingam’ and has spirally oriented ribs,  and gave it a divine look by adding ‘pooja’ items like bell, ‘deepam’, incense sticks, etc.   All the members of this cactus plant species (Ferrocactus herrerae -- Barrel Cactus -- a native of Mexico) have the unique characteristic of having 13 spiral shaped ribs (ridges over the surface).   You may read more about this ‘God Cactus’ under the heading “My lost (last) paradise” on this blog.                                     --  T. Rama Prasad

      

              “Winners don’t do different things,  they do things differently.”         --   Shiv  Khera    

             Yes, there are some who toil relentlessly with a valour, a passion and a commitment to showcase nature.  You would be filled with immense wonder at how incredible nature is when you enter the world’s largest air-conditioned column-less glasshouses (Flower Dome & Cloud Forest – glass roof over 3 + 2 acres of area in Singapore) housing a bewildering variety of trees and plants brought from various countries.  The photos  below  show an aerial view of the twin complex of the glasshouses and some of exotic trees under that glass roof.

Aerial view of the twin glasshouses covering an area of 3 + 2 acres

Acres of gardens under the gigantic glass roof with no pillars inside !

With BAOBAB tree in the background inside the glasshouse

Huge and exotic trees under the glass roof at the 'Flower Dome' in Singapore

BONSAI plants ... Feb 2019  (reprinted from the FACEOOK)

We read about theft of various items, but not about bonsai plants. The seven stolen plants in Japan are worth more than seven million yen. Read the following:
"A Japanese cultivator of bonsai trees appealed on February 12, 2019 for the thieves who made off with his expensive potted plants to take good care of them.

Seiji Iimura, a fifth-generation bonsai cultivator who runs a garden in Kawaguchi, north of Tokyo, told AFP that the seven tiny trees stolen from his garden were his "FAMILY TREASURE."

"It's something I would never sell even if I get 10 million yen (USD 90,000)," he said.

"Of course I hate the thief who stole them, but I want to tell him or her: please water them and please take care of them," Iimura said. "I would be sad if they die." 

Iimura reported to police last month that seven bonsai trees, worth more than seven million yen in total -- including a 400-year-old gnarled juniper -- had been stolen from his garden.

His wife Fuyumi wrote in a recent Facebook entry that the couple had raised the bonsai trees "LIKE OUR CHILDREN."

"I am filled with sadness and heartache," she wrote.

Iimura keeps some 3,000 miniature trees on display at the 5,000 square-metre (6,000 square-yard) garden so that visitors can appreciate bonsai art. Since the theft he has installed security cameras.

"You know, bonsai is nature in miniature. Looking at a bonsai tree is like walking into a deep mountain while staying at home," Iimura said.

Bonsai is an Asian art of sculpting miniature trees over a long time by periodically pruning roots and branches, not allowing them to grow big while they develop features of ageing.

Bonsai trees often appear as if shaped by wind or the weight of snow. Sculpting them requires a delicate technique of chiselling branches to twist and pull them into shape, all the while battling to keep the tree alive.

Exported Japanese bonsai trees have become a hit overseas. In 2018, Japan exported about 12 billion yen worth of trees, bonsai and potted flowers, up from 4.5 billion yen about a decade ago, according to data published by the agriculture ministry."

Click on: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/…/09/trees-and-plants.html

The ‘plant’ in the photo is my 20-year-old bonsai plant — Ficus benjamina, a kind of Banyan tree ... see the pens in the photo to have an idea of its size.

Dr. T. Rama Prasad, 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic, Perundurai,  www.rama-scribbles.com

Oh !!!  what a shape and size !!!

Really !!!   What a design in nature !  See the people standing nearby to guess the size.

An exotic tree ?  NO, this is an image of Pulmonary Angiogram of a patient -- 'X-ray picture-like'  image of blood vessels in the lungs.  And see the photo below.  I used some vegetables like sweet potatoes and radish to construct an image like this 'Pulmonary Angiogram' !!!

Reprinted from FACEBOOK:

GARDENING … August 2018
          For those who like NATURE, gardening gives the greatest pleasure, and effectively nullifies stress. It would be more beneficial if you do it by yourself. The tiny apron of garden you see, in front of our home, in this video is just redesigned and landscaped by me with a simple theme, using mostly the vegetation already available here – a small example of innovation and creativity without spending much money. You too can do it, perhaps much better. Best wishes.
Click on
http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/…/09/trees-and-plants.html

Dr. T. Rama Prasad, ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic, Perundurai.

“Gardening is not trivial. If you believe that it is, closely examine why you feel that way. You may discover that this attitude has been forced upon you by mass media and the crass culture it creates and maintains. The fact is, gardening is just the opposite - it is, or should be, a central, basic expression of human life.” --.Andrew Weil

“Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.”--. H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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We were thrilled to see such a green ambience inside a hospital in Singapore

Lush green ambience in a Singapore hospital

Inside a Singapore hospital

Entrance at a Singapore hospital

Greenery inside a Singapore hospital

The above six photos give a glimpse of the greenery inside a Singapore hospital

Roadside greenery in Singapore.  See the flowering plants on the walk-bridge.

Truly towering tree

Scary bark of terrifying size

"Come monsoon the caladiums seem to symbolise life itself  --  the resting tubers sprouting to throw up a veritable splash of gorgeous leaves with a riot of colour with almost ethereal quality, like a Van Gogh painting.   And the lillies which had lain supine, lifeless, for almost the whole year, would suddenly come alive and burst into pink and white flowers overnight."  Rain is the real tonic and cleaning agent for gardens.  Rain used to bring us a lot of joy and anticipation. In another corner was the ‘Snow Bush’ which becomes a ‘white queen’ during the season.  Any time in the year, the coleus plants contributed unimaginable combinations and permutations of colour and shape of leaves offering a feast to the eye.   Dianthus and carnations lag no behind in giving the pleasure of fascinating and fantastic flowers.  Despite impossible odds and the reality of the all-pervasive evil around, the cacti grew into magnificent shapes in ‘poor’ soil with little watering.  Life struggles to grow and blossom. It used to be a great thrill when our cacti occasionally presented amazing flowers of odd shapes and colours.  We had a strange kinship with the biggest among them, the ‘God Cactus’.  And more … and many more. We used to stand and stare at these marvels of nature everyday.  Around the month of May, the ‘Flame of the forest’  tree bereft of all its leaves turns into a canopy of flaming red flowers matching with the flaming sun, up in the heavens, in the blazing summer.  That is why this tree is also called ‘May flower’ tree.  It has other names like ‘Gulmohar’ and  ‘Delonix regia’.

Many of the trees and plants in the photos below were grown by us at our home or clinic.

Reprinted from the FACEBOOK

CALADIUM plants ... 08.09.18

          Today, I took a video of the CALADIUM plants at our home. Caladums are native to South America and Central America. Annual festival of caladiums is held in July in Florida (Lake Placid) They are also known by the names: 'Elephant Ear', 'Ear of Jesus', 'Angel Wings', etc. You can see the gorgeous colours and stunning patterns in the attached video. You may click on http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/…/09/trees-and-plants.html to see more of the richness of vegetation. 

GREENING THE COUNTRY IS THE BEST PREVENTIVE MEDICINE.

Dr. T. Rama Prasad, 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic, Perundurai, Erode Dt., Tamil Nadu, India. Former Medical Superintendent (Special), RTS & IRT Perundurai Medical College.  www.rama-scribbles.com

Our plants  --  each competing for attention in those colourful days.

Our giant cactus bloomed after decades of existence 

Our 'mini & maxi' cactus plants in the good old days.  They all found their way to the heaven as there is no living space for them here now.

In a Singapore park in 2014, with Nirmala and Rayalakshmi.

In the serenity and tranquility of the 'Gardens by the bay' in Singapore

At a temple garden in Bali (Indonesia)

Caladium plants in our garden project colourful greetings

Our mini cactus garden area where an operation theatre stands now.

Amazing creativity

Breakfast was tastier because of the garden ambience 

A mini garden inside our clinic in those days.  Now, the area had evolved into a formal  work-room.

With my favourite 'Anthurium crystallinum' plant

Our 'God Cactus' in bloom, long before it was shown the door.

Very delicate flowers contrasting with the hard and sharp thorns.  Beauties of the past.

 After many years of existence with us, this small cactus gave us a big flower




                                                                                                     

Our gardener, Rajendran, who took care of our plants very well, had a proud smile when this cactus bloomed

The exotic trio

Green Vinayagar

Incredible !!   Unimaginable umbrellas !!!

See the man in front of the tree.  Tiny humans we are !!!

My stress-relieving static-companions which are no more here now.

Golden balls indeed !

By adding white pebbles, we enhanced the splendour of these amazingly beautiful cacti.

Intriguing !  How do the trees create such an intricate design !!

Godly nature, once upon a time, before 'development' took place !

Yes, we ( I & Rajyalakshmi ) do things in a different way.  We had been caring for the plants in this photograph  for a long time.  We  christened the tall cactus, Ferrocactus ferrerae,  as “Sivalinga spiralis  /  God cactus”  as it looks like ‘Sivalingam’ and has spirally oriented ribs,  and gave it a divine look by adding ‘pooja’ items like bell, ‘deepam’, incense sticks, etc.  You may read more about this ‘God Cactus’ under the heading “My lost (last) paradise” on this blog.  --  T. Rama Prasad

              “Winners don’t do different things,  they do

 things differently.”   ---   Shiv  Khera    

We decorated this statue in our garden with some flowers and cloth, before this piece of land gave way to an extension to the building.

This 'Adenium obesium' plant has been with us for over 30 years.  True to the name it looks obese.

No, not an exotic variety.  Just a coconut palm tree, differently shaped !

Unbelievably exotic shape and size !

Petunia hybrida -- easily cultivable and beautiful

We bought this variety of plant for the first time 40 years ago when we went to Trivandrum to attend a national conference, and propagating it since then.

Real 'anthurium' plant with a single gigantic leaf in the rockery of our clinic's reception area (before the area was 'developed' into a 'modern' facility.)

Simply grand and majestic

Grand green canopies

l

In-door plants, inside our clinic, in those good old days.  Now, it's remodelled  into a formal reception area.

The rockery in our patients' waiting hall with gorgeous flowering plants in the good old days.

Even a train can pass through the base of this tree!!!

Yet another extremely odd tree

Plants 'receive' patients in the reception area of our clinic in the good old days !

Green ideas !

Plants in our bedroom

One 'green idea' is to have these plants in our bedroom.   Today (Dec 19, 2017), we are having SANSEVIERIA plants (as in the photos above & below).  It is also known by several common names like 'Snake plant', 'Mother-in-Law's tongue' (it may be renamed as 'Daughter-in-Law's tongue, as suggested by Prof. Maadhavi ... read under the title "Mother-in-Law, the bygone Hitler !" on this blog), 'Saint George's sword', 'Bowstring hemp', etc.  The genus was named after the Prince of San Savero.  There is another variety called 'Bird nest type' which is short and cluster-like.  According to a NASA Clean Air Study, along with other plants such as 'Golden pothos' (Epipremnum aureum) and 'Corn plant' (Dracaena fragrans), 'Sansevieria trifasciata'  is capable of purifying air by removing some toxins such as formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene. Sansevierias use the crassulacean acid metabolism process, which absorbs carbon dioxide at night, and releases oxygen during daytime. Nighttime absorption of CO₂ purportedly makes them especially suitable bedroom plants.  Of course, we are keeping the plants for aesthetic purpose mainly, as we are not in the oxygen deprived polluted ambience of a crowded urban area.

 'Golden pothos' (Epipremnum aureum) plants in our bedroom

Plants in our BATHROOM -- madness ?

Plants in my 'Pay What You Can' Clinic, in the good old days.

Exquisitely shaped tree tunnel

Deserves to be worshipped.  Patients used to worship this 'GOD CACTUS' in those good old days.

Cherished ambience, in the good old days.  It had since been replaced by a concrete structure.

Dancing trees

The message is very clear and loud

Admirably awesome

The tree seems to have its own design engineer !!!

                                                                                           Reprinted from the FACEBOOK

FB id: T Rama Prasad                                                       June 13, 2016

GREENING  ERODE  DISTRICT

Babu Radha (C. Elanchelian of SANDOZ) met me yesterday (June 12, 2016) as a Professional Service Representative in my consultation chamber and wanted to have a selfie with me (photo attached).  He explained to me of the service he along with ERODE THULIRGAL (FB id) have been doing to 'green' Erode district by going about every Sunday to plant saplings in front of houses and motivating the people to grow trees.  I recollected planting saplings in the ‘Perundurai Sanatorium & Medical College campus’ decades ago which had now grown into a treasure of big trees.  I reminisced about my residence in that campus which people used to call  "A Mini Ooty Botanical Garden."  I told him how some people had resisted my efforts to grow trees by the sides of roads, saying that the trees would reduce the yield of their 'Cholam' crop due to the shade of trees !

Babu told me that this Sunday they would be planting saplings in the Thindal area.  Thank you, Babu Radha. You and ERODE THULIRGAL have been doing excellent service to protect the environment.  I wish you all great support from the public (in their own interest).  Elimination of trees and escalation of pollution got Delhi the dubious distinction of being the world's most polluted city.  Each tree in its lifetime gives us benefits, mostly of health, worth rupees fifty lakhs !  It is estimated that a tree which lives for 50 years generates Rs. 5.3 lakh worth of oxygen and provides Rs. 10.5 lakh worth of air pollution control apart from another Rs. 20 to 35 lakh worth of other benefits.

GROW TREES;  SAVE YOURSELVES  &  SAVE THE PLANET.

The first photo was taken yesterday (June 12, 2016) in my consultation chamber, and the others were taken  at a tree (saplings) planting activity of 'Erode Thulirgal.

Dr. T. Rama Prasad,
drtramaprasad@gmail.com, 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic, PERUNDURAI, Erode Dt., TN, India., Former Medical Superintendent (Special), RTS & IRT Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre.

'Snake trees' ???

In the 'Surabhi Nursery Garden'

OMG !  How much patience and skill is required to train trees like this !!! 

123-year-old PREGNANT  LADY 

Dr. T. Rama Prasad         …       February 2018

                  This lady is a native of Seychelles,  and has been in the district of Howrah, West Bengal, India for the past 123 years.  She is the only one of that race in India.  She attained womanhood at the age of around 100  years in 1988,  but there has never been anyone else of her race in India.   Doctors and scientists wished to have a progeny of that race through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) as no male of her race can be brought to India for this purpose, and the woman was willing.  Males of that race have been present in Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Thailand.  So, the scientists approached Indian Ministry of External Affairs which wrote to the Sri Lankan government to send suitable male germinal material.  It was packed in ice boxes and flown by air to India (Dum Dum Airport) exactly at the time when the ovary of the lady was ready for conception.  The artificial procedure failed.  They repeated the procedure once in a year for the next five years, but failed repeatedly. 

                  Then,  Thailand government was approached and got the germinal material, after clearing all the international hurdles to get the biological matter.  And, lo and behold, it was a success, in 2013.  The pregnancy was confirmed and it was to be twins !  But the pregnancy period is to be about 5 to 7 years.  Delivery is expected to be in this year – 2018, and the babies’ weight is expected to be about 25 kg each !  Dr. Hamid and his team are anxiously waiting for the babies to be separated from the mother lady.  They hope and wish that one should be a male and another female.  But,  the sex can be known only after half-a-century !! Ultrasound scans can’t reveal the sex !!!

What’s the riddle ?  What is all this about ?

                  This story is true to the facts, except that the lady is a female tree in West Bengal. All those  happenings are true – 123-years-old tree;  flowering at the age of around 100;  importing pollen from other countries;  Dum Dum airport; letters from the government;  artificial pollination;  many failures of Sri Lanka pollen;  success with Thailand pollen;  the tree being a female and being the only one of its species in India;  the 5 to 7 year period for the fruit (seed/nut) to mature;  only two fruits now on the tree (twins);  the fruits to get ripened in 2018;  the half-a-century period of waiting to know whether the tree is a male or female; -- all these are true and scientific facts.

About this variety of palm trees

                  The species name of this palm tree is “Coco de mer.”  The botanical name is “Lodoicea maldivica.”  It is also known as ‘Double Coconut’ (as the fruit is bilobed), ‘Sea Coconut’, ‘Love Nut’, Coco Fesse’, ‘Seychelles Nut’, etc.  It is not widely present across the globe.  It is mostly found in a couple of islands of Seychelles – it could not spread as the very heavy nut can’t float in water and drift away to far away places.  The fruit (seed) of this plant is the largest and heaviest in the world (25 kg  & 45 cm each); the leaves are also the largest (8 metres). It is also a very tall palm(30 metres).  It takes more than 50 years to come to flowering only when the sex of the tree can be determined (Diecious – male and female flowers borne on different trees).  Because of the huge size and rarity, the shells of the nut (used by ‘Sadhus & godmen’ as ‘Kamandalam’) are considered as prized possessions; some use them to add flavour to foods; some use them for medicinal value – otherwise it has no wide practical use.  It has an ‘exotic’ value, though.  These trees may live for as long as 1,000 years !

About this particular tree

                  A pair of saplings of the ‘Coco de mer’ were brought from Seychelles and planted in the ‘Botanic Garden’ in the Howrah district of West Bengal (India), in 1894, by the then Superintendent of the garden, Sir Geroge King.  One of them didn’t survive and the other is the present 123-year-old tree which is the one and only one in India.  As this is a female tree, it needs pollen from a male tree to bear fruits.  The interesting struggle by Dr. Hamid and other scientists from ‘Botanical Survey of India’ to make this ‘lady’ tree bear fruits is narrated above. 

1884  ………  Brought from Seychelles and planted in Howrah district

1988  ……...  After a century, first flowering appeared

2006  ………  Assisted pollination started …  pollen from Sri Lanka  &  Thailand

2013  ………  Pollination successful and two fruits appeared

2018  ……..   Ripening of those two fruits expected

	Amazingly beautiful Cactus Flowers.pdf
Dr. T. Rama Prasad,  http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.in

'PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic, Perundurai, Erode Dt., TN, India., Former Medical Superintendent    (Special), RTS & IRT Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre, Perundurai.

The following is what I posted on the FACEBOOK on June 28, 2018

SAYING “NO” TO GOOD HEALTH

I don’t know when our folk would become sensible and sensitive … a few days ago an objection was raised when a resident attempted to lay a beautiful green hedge at the edge of a road.   And growing avenue trees on the sides of a road was opposed. The reasons are silly and otiose, like “the road gets narrowed to cause traffic problems / fodder crop (cholam) wouldn’t grow well due to the shade of the trees.”  When will India go green and get rid of environment related diseases and deaths ?  Click on the link below: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/09/trees-and-plants.html

Dr. T. Rama Prasad, ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic, Perundurai, www.rama-scribbles.com

More TREES make more healthy LUNGS.

GREEN  the world,  save the PLANET

Talking to motivate students to make India greener and healthier at an open auditorium surrounded by greenery at Vallal Dhasappa Hostel, Gobichettipalayam, on August 20, 2017

WOW,   WHACKY   and   WEIRD

Dr. T. Rama Prasad,  www.rama-scribbles.in

PAPAYA  BIRD

27.01.2020 ...  Today, our driver Chinnasamy brought this odd-shaped papaya fruit from the local market.  I just added one pepper seed and a small bit of carrot and took a photo and video ... and displayed it in our reception room.  The video is below:

LOVERS

Today (14.02.2020),  one of our Nursing Students, Ms SWATHI, brought a rare vegetable specimen of two entwined tubers of white radish from the local market.  I just added a couple of pepper seeds to represent eyes and a couple of tiny bits of a vegetable to make them look like  a beak or tongue or whatever,  and took a photo in a particular angle which may make the vegetables look like a couple of lovers !!!  And, curiously, today is the Valentine's Day !!!

CRAWL in a PLATE

Tonight (19.03.2020), while getting up from the dining chair, I saw a curious figure, looking like somebody crawling, in the dining plate of my better half.  She had thrown a crumpled empty strip of tablets in her plate after having had dinner and a tablet.  I just took a photo and saved it.  Odd, isn't it ?

COVID  PAPAD  August 17, 2020

Not  a COVID  PAPAD:  A few pieces of a papad (appalam) were in my plate.  I found an art piece in them and took a photo.  It is an ordinary hotel papad  ( hotel, because all our kitchen staff unitedly took a holiday today ! ). 

TWIN  POTATO

This evening (28.08.2020),  one of our staff members, Mrs. Tamil Selvi Chinnasamy gave me this odd potato -- two potatoes joined together.  Part of it looked like a fish with a pit looking like an eye. I cut a wedge piece in the front and placed it at the back.  This gave the appearance of a mouth and a tail fin. That's all, very simple.

I hung this potato with a string along a wall in our kitchen two months ago.   See this photo taken after a lapse of two months ... sprouts are springing up ... nature,  great !!!

CHOCOLATE  DANCERS

I positioned two chocolates and a dry red chilly.  And added a couple of 'limbs'.  And took a photo and saved it ... that's it !

POPCORN  FOLK  DANCER

Today (29.05.2020),  I saw a few pieces of popcorn on our dining table ... one has the shape of rabbit ears.  I cut a few pieces into bits and arranged them to look like a figure.  Any fake news of popcorn as a preventive for corona ???

HEART  in  INDIA  -- July 12, 2020

A titbit on our dining table,  with a heart in India.

ROSE  APPLES

WATERY ROSE APPLE fruits are arranged in CO shape on our dining table today  (11.05.2020 - courtesy - TUA).  Why CO shape ?  Perhaps, the COVID influence !! For a change, let's talk about this rose apple- Syzygium aqueum .  The fruits are crunchy and watery, having antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-cholesterol and anticancer effects. The coloured variety has a very attractive glossy look. There would have been a great market if there is some sweet fructose in them. -- Dr. T. Rama Prasad, 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN' Clinic, Perundurai. 

MORNING WALK

COVID DANCER

I happened to see this TRIPLE  CARROT  (2 arms & 1 head) today.   COVID is much more abnormal than this carrot or any other virus.  Though the "Covid Dancer" is not tired of dancing for 17 months continuously across the globe,  people are dead tired of "masks, distancing & lockdowns", and even fatigued to read about the stereotypical "cases & deaths" or "comforting hopes &  depressing predictions".  It has become a blame game. Governments blame people, and people blame governments.  Countries blame each other.  Yesterday's approved drug is not recommended today.  Yesterday's data is no more right today.  Yesterday's enlisted Covid  hospital is sealed today.  Common man is confused. Trust has crumbled.  Chaos is prevailing.  And it is becoming increasingly difficult to convince people on anything about Covid -- this is the "COVID EFFECT".  When will Ms Covid stop dancing ?  It depends upon the BEHAVIOUR of three components --  PEOPLE, COVID VARIANTS, VACCINES. --  Dr. T. Rama Prasad, Perundurai, India,  June 2021

BOAT  RIDE  or  BIRD  RIDE  ?

August 28, 2021:    Mr. P.R. Vishnu, our staff member, brought these two odd-looking white radish tubers, on finding the beauty  of NATURE in them.  I just added 3 pepper seeds, positioned them and took a photo.  That's all.

SNAKE IN OUR GARDEN !

COAT HANGER  MANGO  !

This is one among the mangoes we bought.

MANGO  SEED  BIRD

    I opened the hard outer 'shell' of a mango 'seed'  and removed the inside seed.  I wrapped it in a wet tissue paper and left it inside a plastic bag, to retain the moisture,  for a few days.  When I removed it from the bag after some days,  I found it germinating in a shape as seen in the photo below, looking like a bird from a particular angle of view.  Of course I placed a couple of matchsticks underneath and  a pepper seed on it  representing the eye of the 'bird' (on July 20, 2021).  You may do it.  You may not see the same shape and colour, but you will see the seed sprouting, in the same way.  This is one way of speedily germinating mango seeds. Try it, instead of throwing away the seeds after eating mangoes.  --  T. Rama Prasad

Two days later, on July 22, 2021, there was some more growth, a stem coming up and a root going down, as can be seen in the photo below.  I took a photo, this time upside down, with a twig underneath and a pepper to represent the eye.  What an amazing change in 2 days !

MIYAZAKI mangoes

The Miyazaki mango, usually found in Japan, is known as the world’s costliest mango. The rare mango is now found in India in West Bengal's Birbhum district. It is priced at an exorbitant rate of Rs 3 lakh per kilogram.                                                    MANGO -- the king of fruits

Many may not know that the English word "mango" originated from the Tamil word "manga" (via Portughese - also "manga" in their usage). In Tamil Nadu, the mango is referred to as one of the 3 royal fruits (mukkani) along with banana and jackfruit. The trio is also called as 'Ma-pala-vazhai'.

It was in 1510 that "manga" was first recorded in a European language (French). The 'common mango' (Mangifera indica) originated in India and Burma. It is the national fruit of India and the Philippines and the national tree of Bangladesh.

-- Dr. T. Rama Prasad, 'Pay what you can' Clinic, Perundurai,    July 2023

CAPSICUM  cut into half in our kitchen

GINGER in our kitchen

One TAMARIND + four COCONUT pieces

Leftover cabbage pieces in our kitchen

Some roots

CONJOINED  TOMATO

          I found this odd-shaped tomato in our kitchen.  It looked like CONJOINED  TWINS.

CONJOINED  TWINS

who are identical twins born physically attached by tissues of the body.  The incidence may be one in 100,000 births.  They don't usually live long.  

          The most famous pair of conjoined twins was 'Chang and Bunker' (1811 - 1874).   The brothers were born in SIAM (now, Thailand) and hence the term SIAMESE  TWINS came into use as a synonym for conjoined twins.  Chang and Bunker were attached at the torso by a band of flesh, cartilage and fused livers.   At that point of time, surgical skills were not developed so much to separate them.   The brothers, together, traveled widely for many years, popularly known as 'Siamese twins'.

          

          In recent times, Abby and Brittany were born (1990) as a very rare case of DICEPHALUS  CONJOINED  TWINS -- 2 heads,  2  in 1  body,  each head controlling one half of the body, each one doesn't feel the other side of the body, each one having different personalities, likings, etc.

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE  !!!

          Usually, such twins won't live long.  But Abby and Brittany grew up in a typical American family and graduated in high school (2008) and college (2012).   Each of the two with one body got driving licenses, to make sure that both know how to drive.

          They worked as 'a' school teacher in 2017 for one salary !

        CONJOINED  TWINS 
These twins with two bodies attached at the head level, are due to write their SSC exams in March 2020 at the same examination centre but on different hall tickets !  They hail from Nalgonda district in Telangana State in India.

 In our backyard, there is a guava tree.   It bore one 'TWIN  GUAVA'  fruit.

Quite often we see twin bananas

Here is the TWIN  LEMON -- courtesy  of  Prof. Karthick

TWIN  OKRA - LADIES' FINGERS

Peddababu (B.R. Prasad, M.Com, Visakhapatnam) found these twins in his backyard on 21.10.2020.

Very rarely, a conjoined apple (SIAMESE APPLE) may be found.  The fruit shares a single stalk, but has two cores and two sets of pips, creating a quirky mirror-image fruit.

Conjoined watermelons are as rare as Siamese twins.  Such changes may rarely be seen in other fruits and flowers.

A man named Ken Morrish had an apple on his tree with a dramatic colour as can be seen in the photo below ... a perfect line of demarcation between the green and red portion of the apple. The red half of the fruit tasted better !

The changes may be due to  a random weird genetic mutation.  One in one million fruits may have this chance.

Conjoined flowers.

Conjoined mice.

          William Shakespeare wrote:  "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, my dear Horatio."

MULTI-HEADED  CABBAGE

          While buying some vegetables in the market today (18.07.2019),  our driver Karthik found this odd-shaped, ten-headed cabbage and brought it.  Had you ever seen such a one ?

ODD  POTATO

Again today (04.10.2019), our driver Karthik picked up an odd-shaped vegetable - potato this time.

Miss  CARROT

      Again, today (!3.10.19), our driver Karthik brought one interesting vegetable -- a bifid carrot looking like the lower half of the body.  I made the upper half of the body with another carrot and photographed them together !!!  (See the photo below)  

"MANGOMELON"

           Today (December 2, 2019), our staff member, Veerakumar brought this oddly-shaped (mango shape) watermelon.

BILWA TREE … August 2, 2019

This evening, one of my patients was carrying a fruit of Bilwa tree … enthused by its shape, I took a photo of it. The leaves and fruits of this tree (Bilwa / Bael / Wood apple /Aegle marmelos / etc) are used in worshipping Lord Shiva. The tree is believed to have great spiritual and medicinal values. It takes nearly one year for the fruits of this tree to come to the stage of ripening. In the Newar community in Nepal, girls are “married” through rituals to Bilwa fruits to ensure fertility and to make sure that the society treats them not as widows when their husbands die ! The leaves resemble the ‘trishula’ wielded by Shiva. Noting my interest, the patient offered that fruit to Rama (me !) instead of to Shiva ! My interest in this fruit is because it looked remotely like a deer or some animal with two horns or long ears (see the photo) … somehow odd things like this come to my notice quite often. If you wish to read my small note on Shiva, click on: http://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/03/shiva.html



I just added one dot to represent eye, and two matchsticks to a BILWA fruit.  It made a lot of difference. 

August 15, 2020

This represents the REAL PATRIOTISM in the RURAL INDIA.  Reeling under the attack of CORONA,  many a city folk are switching over to agriculture for the good.  Migration to cities,  destruction of nature,  spoiling the environment and living a bad lifestyle have escalated existing diseases and brought in new diseases.  CORONA is teaching good lessons,  but the human being does not learn unless the pandemic lasts for a long time.