Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Frangipani

The sight of this frangipani tree in full bloom prompted me to jot a few lines.

 






















Flourishing in the sunshine, this tree provided a shaded corner where one could rest, share a cup of coffee or tea with friends or simply contemplate life. It was beautiful!


Common white frangipani
As a child, I had seen the frangipani trees (probably did not notice the fully grown trees) only as potted plants in homes with a few flowers. I hadn't even known it's name. It's only much later, I started seeing the fully grown trees around. I noticed them more so as they were perennially in bloom. The seasons did not seem to make a difference to them, though spring/ summer did bring out the best in them.

A little trivia: The common name is frangipani/ temple flower, belonging to the genus Plumeria. They give off a lovely scent at night. They are also mostly mistaken for the other sweet smelling flower 'champa/ champaca' which really is the Indian magnolia . The scent attracts insects at night which is so necessary for pollination and so on and so forth. But it's just a ruse as the flower does not produce any nectar. These flowers are also seen in a variety of other shades - red, pink, pure white etc. 

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