Neil:
good, may be I 'll need to find some sturdy (leather preferably)
gardening gloves...
for you or your mali... ha ha if I was hell bent on getting the
fruits pods and seeds ....
Thanks for the pictures....
lovely...
Usha di
=======
On Aug 2, 10:40 pm, Neil Soares <drneilsoa...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> From my records over the last few years, Mucuna pruriens generally flowers
> in October and fruiting occurs between October to March. Have never thought
> of collecting the seeds as they grow wild and also because the pods are
> covered with fine stinging hair.
> With regards,
> Neil Soares.
>
> --- On Tue, 8/2/11, ushadi Micromini <microminipho...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: ushadi Micromini <microminipho...@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [efloraofindia:75472] Re: Giant Jewel Beetle feeding on Tendu
> leaves
> To: "Neil Soares" <drneilsoa...@yahoo.com>
> Cc: "efloraofindia" <indiantreepix@googlegroups.com>
> Date: Tuesday, August 2, 2011, 4:25 PM
>
> Dear Neil...
> Please call me Usha... no Dr is necessary...
> I am learning here... and I grew up not using epithets nor titles...
> first name basis only... even bosses...
>
> Spectacular pictures...never imagined I will see the flowers and bulbils
> together... thank you.. ... this is very nice, thank you...
> the only ones I recognized as having seen, eaten or otherwise familiar with
> are the
> Karanda, wild grapes, ghendal pata, and some unclassified Dioscorea
>
> I have only studied and seen sample seeds in a ziplock plastic bag at
> that...Mucuna pruriens.. when does it flower? and fruits? Do you ever
> collect them? I would love some seeds if you do... Ayurvedic material , u
> know...
>
> Usha di
> =======
>
> On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 2:01 PM, Neil Soares <drneilsoa...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Thank you Dr. Usha and Congratulations on being chosen ‘e-flora woman of
> the month’!
> The photographs were all taken in their natural surroundings – none
> are planted.
>
> Some of the climbers seen are :
>
> -Ampelocissus latifolia [Wild Grapes]
> -Mucuna pruriens [Common Cow-itch]
> -Wattakaka volubilis [Green Milkweed climber]
> -Dioscorea bulbifera
> -Dioscorea pentaphylla.
> -Calycopteris floribunda [Paper Flower climber, Ukshi]
> -Cissus repanda [Ghendal]
> -Dalbergia volubilis [Alai]
> -Cryptolepis buchnanai [Wax-leaved climber]
> -Zizyphus rugosa [Toran]
> -Cyclea sp.
> -Capparis zeylanica {Ceylon Caper]
> -Embelia basaal [Wavding]
> -Carissa congesta [Carvanda]
>
> The D.bulbifera do develop bilbils but have never eaten any though they
> are much sought after by tribals.
> Sending you a few photographs.
> With regards,
> Neil Soares.
> --- On Sun, 7/31/11, ushadi Micromini <microminipho...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> From: ushadi Micromini <microminipho...@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [efloraofindia:75472] Re: Giant Jewel Beetle feeding on Tendu
> leaves
> To: "Neil Soares" <drneilsoa...@yahoo.com>
> Cc: "efloraofindia" <indiantreepix@googlegroups.com>
> Date: Sunday, July 31, 2011, 11:29 AM
>
> Dear Neil: Thanks for sharing...
> are these VINES volunteers or did you transplant/ plant 'em by design?
> I would not know which is which... could you tell me, please?
> DOES YOUR AIR POTATO PLANT DEVELOP the typical potaoes?
> Have ever eaten them?
>
> I became interested in Dioscorea... as a tribe...while studying
> ethnobotany of ne states of india including Assam, Bengal,
> Tripura Nagaland etc...the genus is of utmost importance as
> food to natives of ne hill states of India....as tubers..leaves
> are all eaten, often as staples...
>
> But even before that, while studying western herbal medicine,.
> became interested in Dioscorea .as sources of steroid diosgenin...
> which in hands of industry is base for making synthetic
> hormones.... but of cource you knew that.. and that one leaf
> sort of reminded me of something I seen somewhere, there by
> that initial question....
>
> THE MORE MORE I READ ABOUT BOTANY OF INDIA..
> ITS BECOMING CLEARER BY THE DAY THAT THE
> WESTERN GHATS HAVE A VERY DIVERSE and ..
> HIGHLY EVOLVED BOTANICAL MIX... AND MANY
> THINGS NOT IN OUR COLLECTIVE HORTICULTURAL
> HABITS REMAIN TO BE " DISCOVERED" ANEW , ESP
> WHEN WE CAN ALL BE ARMED WITH RECORDERS
> AND DIGITAL CAMERAS...AND TALK TO EACH OTHER
> SO RAPIDLY..!!! EXPONENTIALLY INCREASING OUR
> COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE ....
>
> Regards,
> Usha di
> ==========
>
> On Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 10:40 PM, Neil Soares <drneilsoa...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
> The Dioscorea bulbifera was just an incidental finding. Please check these
> photographs where there are at least 6 climbers per frame. They are all taken
> at my farm at Shahapur.
> With regards,
> Neil Soares.
>
> --- On Sat, 7/30/11, Smilax004 <giby.kuriak...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: Smilax004 <giby.kuriak...@gmail.com>
> Subject: [efloraofindia:75417] Re: Giant Jewel Beetle feeding on Tendu leaves
> To: "Geeta" <rgeet...@gmail.com>
> Cc: "indiantreepix" <indiantreepix@googlegroups.com>,
> microminipho...@gmail.com
> Date: Saturday, July 30, 2011, 11:39 AM
>
> Dear Geeta,
>
> There is only one leaf belong to Dioscorea that too only in the first
> picture. The main plant in the pictures is Diospyros melanoxylon
> leaves as Neil ji mentioned.
> One more interesting point I would like to mention here that recently
> a scientist in ATREE Bangalore fond out that leaves of Nothapodytes
> nimmoniana is been eaten by a
>
> Dear Ushadi,
>
> That is their nature not only insects most of the animals do so. What
> do a domestic cow do? Who cleans its surroundings? are they concerned
> about the same? In forest/nature, animals move around and they don't
> concerned about the cleanliness of the surroundings, caused by them.
> But there is system that works on it, such as dung beetles on dungs of
> mammals and in no time the area gets cleaned. Fungus degrades the
> wastes or decaying/dead substances. Rain washes away the surroundings
> of insects and any disturbance of the plant (as what you see in the
> picture) would help to drop down all such kind of foreign materials.
>
> In nature there is a system (or several systems) that works well to
> keep up the momentum. It is we who don't work as per the rules of
> nature hence need to work on each and every thing that we do.
>
> Regards,
> Giby
>
> On Jul 30, 5:54 am, Geeta <rgeet...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Looks like Dioscorea--possibly D. bulbifera.
>
> > On Jul 30, 5:30 am, Ushadi micromini <microminipho...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
>
> > > and in pic 1, what is the heart shaped leaf peering down at the top?
> > > interesting venatiions...
> > > seems to be a vine growing up on the tendu...
> > > Udsha di
> > > ===
>
> > > On Jul 29, 10:15 pm, Neil Soares <drneilsoa...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > > Hi,
> > > > Thought this might be interesting…..
> > > >
> > > > Photographed this Giant Jewel Beetle [a Sternocera sp. possibly
> > > > S.chrysis] at my farm last weekend gorging on Tendu [Diospyros
> > > > melanoxylon] leaves. After extracting the juices it would discard the
> > > > fibrous pellets.
> > > > Sending a few photographs.
> > > > With regards,
> > > > Neil Soares.
>
> > > > Giant Jewel Beetle on Tendu 1.jpg
> > > > 552KViewDownload
>
> > > > Giant Jewel Beetle on Tendu 2.jpg
> > > > 477KViewDownload
>
> > > > Giant Jewel Beetle on Tendu 3.jpg
> > > > 480KViewDownload
>
> > > > Giant Jewel Beetle on Tendu 4.jpg
> > > > 494KViewDownload
>
> > > > Giant Jewel Beetle on Tendu 5.jpg
> > > > 495KViewDownload
>
>
>
> Mucuna pruriens, Khajkhujli flowers 1.jpg
> 155KViewDownload
>
> Mucuna pruriens, Khajkhujli flowers 2.jpg
> 103KViewDownload
>
> Mucuna pruriens, Khajkhujli pods 1.jpg
> 100KViewDownload
>
> Mucuna pruriens, Khajkhujli pods 2.jpg
> 102KViewDownload
>
> Mucuna pruriens, Khajkhujli pods 3.jpg
> 144KViewDownload
>
> Mucuna pruriens, Khajkhujli pods 4.jpg
> 135KViewDownload
>
> Mucuna pruriens, Khajkhujli pods 5.jpg
> 103KViewDownload
