WILD FLOWERS OF GOA ... by Lilian D'Costa < goadesc at sancharnet.in >
A book on the wild flowers of the Sahyadris, brought to mind pictures and travelogues of the silent valley (because that's about all I knew about wild flowers) and so ever since I heard about the book, the only one of its kind thus far, by a little known Mr. Shrikant Ingalhalikar, I've been very interested in it. Yesterday (25thMarch 2004) proved to be a wonderful opportunity to meet the man for real and also see his beautiful exhibition of over 81 large pictures. The 2-day exhibition is being held at the Kala Academy Art Gallery and he later informed us the pictures are for sale too. This is the first exposure of wild flowers to us nature enthusiasts. At the exhibition, each visitor was handed a photocopied sheet with the scientific names of the flowers, their local names and the season in which they bloomed. Knowing the local name was important, because the pictures were obviously blown up from their original size and therefore you would in some cases fail to identify them, besides, as most of us soon realized, we had often glossed over these tiny flowers and were therefore looking at them for the very first time. The pictures really stood out in their frames as Mr. Ingalhalikar used a special flash that darkened the background, so the hue and finer details were brought out. Later, Mr. Ingalhalikar explained that some of these details were not even visible to the common eye. A brief chat with Mr. Ingalhalikar revealed that before he took up his dormant passion of flowers, he was an (uninteresting) mechanical engineer, he was however always interested in wild flowers and though he had been observing them, it was a big handicap not to have a pictorial field guide he could refer too. That gave him the idea of putting together his wonderful book of 500 plates, which was being sold at the venue for Rs.350; he also has a Marathi version of the book for Rs. 200. Interestingly he revealed that he would soon be publishing his second book of another 500 wild flowers, which would also be sold with a CD. The CD is expected to contain the full 1000 plates and text. Done in 'Excel', he said budding enthusiasts and even serious researches would have it all at their fingertips. Coming from a non-academic background, he is quick to put you at ease, as he keeps out the technical terms and nonchalantly reveals that his detailed documentation such as his of a 1000 flowers is no small feat, with this he would have covered half the wildflowers in the Sayadhri. It seems there are a total of some 2000 varieties of wild flowers, in this 12th bio-diversity hotspot of the world, which happily leaves enthusiasts like you and me some work (so don't stay too far behind). The motley crowd oohing and aahing their way around the exhibits, then headed into the black box for a slide show on the 'wild flowers of Goa'. There were 100 slides from 4 different geographic areas namely the mangrove areas, inland aquatic, deciduous and evergreen forest areas. Many of the forest wild flowers had been clicked in Neturlim and he confessed that he was so amazed at the diversity of wild flowers in Goa, that he had come back again and again to develop a significant documentation. He urged those present to recognize and make known this hitherto unknown aspect of our floral heritage. He had also witnessed wide spread damage to these plant habitats, some flowers were so rare, that Mr. Ingalhalikar refused to divulge their location for fear of destroying the last vestiges of their habitat. He is however attempting a small conservation effort as he collects seeds of these plants and herbs on his trips and advised those present to do the same. Flowers says Mr. Ingalhalikar have been made for the benefit of plants but man has come to believe they have been made for him so he plucks them, offers them to god and adorns himself. Wild flowers in the Mangrove areas are predominantly white in colour, not fragrant and do not produce nectar. Many of them, Mr. Ingalhalikar pointed out during the slide show can be found just behind the Kala Academy, and if it wasn't dusk, there might have been a stampede in the area. Ipomoea Pes Capre is supposed to resemble the foot of a goat, while Tricosanthes Cucumerina is a beautiful white flower with webbery petals, Kaempferia Rotunda is just a flower which springs straight from the bulbs hidden in the ground. The Holostemma flower is eaten while the Dunbaria Heynei is found only in the mangroves of Goa. The inland aquatic flowers are tiny and being insignificant in size, draw little attention, however, says Mr. Ingalhalikar they are at the base of the pyramid. And are important for the survival of large herbivorous species who in turn are food for carnivorous species. A lot of the inland aquatic flowers shown were photographed at the Carambolim Lake. Rare yet common in Goa is the Spheranthus Africanus, the Utricularia Aurea is a small yellow, intriguing, insectivorous flower. The Aristolachia Indica is interesting in that it traps insects within it till the insect has pollinated the flower, it is thus a 'fly trap flower' explains Mr. Ingalhalikar. The laterite plateaus of Goa are famous for Ceropegia Attenuata, a lantern shaped 'fly trap' flower. It traps the flower for a day or two within itself and the poor fly can escape only after the flower has drooped. Drosera Indica is another interesting flower. It is of an insect hunting plant and its hunt is as exciting to watch as that of a tiger. Its leaves (though they don't look like leaves at all) consist of spiny tentacles (like a needle) at the tip of which is a sticky drop of digestive juice, which closely resembles a dewdrop. When an insect sits on this dewdrop mistaking it for honey, it is trapped. The spindly leaf then rolls up and digests the insect. This digestive juice at the tip of each spiny tip is believed to be more sensitive than the human nervous system!. Scientist were so amazed by this plant that it took them a while to figure out whether to classify it as an insect or plant. So why are plants insectivorous? The answer is simple. The soil being Nitrogen deficient, the plant attempts to tide over this deficiency by consuming insects. During the monsoons, plants grow in profusion, and so do insects that survive on plants. But nature is so highly evolved that plants have come up with a way to feed of insects as well. A lot of the flowers and plants that Mr. Ingalhalikar showed had medicinal value, one of the reasons for their widespread destruction. Throughout his talk Mr. Ingalhalikar also adds on the common names in the vernacular. When plants and flowers, however do not have medicinal or edible value says Mr. Ingalhalikar, man has not given them a name, here Mr. Ingalhalikar himself has come up with a name. Slides on the flowers of deciduous forests, showed the commonly found Bombax Ceila. Few if any know how these flowers, atop a leafless tree attract so many types of birds and even monkeys, the answer explained Mr. Ingalhalikar is because each Bombax flower can contain as much as one teaspoon of nectar. There were lots of slides of wild orchid flowers too, the Oberonia Brunoniana flower looks like a thick gold necklace but is inappropriately named rats tail. In the evergreen forests is found Pecteiles Gigantean, a fragrant orchid, whose scent can be detected as much as a kilometer away. The Syzygium Taetum, however says Mr. Ingalhalikar should been given the prized place of the State flower of Goa. Its rare and beautiful and this plant is found only near waterfalls. After gorging our eyes on this feast of flowers and a late cup of tea, thanks to our host Mr. Ingalhalikar, we headed home. I believe I'm still feeling nostalgic for while I sat by the bus window today, the day seemed brighter, the air cooler and cleaner, and besides doing some bird watching, I also did some flower watching. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
