Showing posts with label plants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plants. Show all posts

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Fauna Exotica............

Endemic Yellow-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus penicillatus)


 

 











Common Bluebottle(Graphium sarpedon)




 



Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer)














                                             Marsh Dancer ( Onychargia atrocyana)






                                                           Acavus Superbus





                                        

                                House Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

                                         
                                





                                     Black-headed Ibis(Threskiornis melanocephalus)

















                                            Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio).































Camera Critters

Friday, April 1, 2011

Nymphea stellata......Floral Friday Meme#3

Photobucket
The plant that bares this beautiful flower, Nymphea stellata  is confused by many with Nymphaea nouchali, the national flower of Sri Lanka. This is a common plant in most of lowland Sri Lanka, in rivers, tanks,paddy fields,and swamps.








Thursday, March 31, 2011

Mangroove Apple/Sonneratia caseolaris/කිරළ.. Thursday's Trees Meme # 3

A plant that occurs in wetland habitats, this provides a fruit that makes probably the most delicious juice in the whole world!   I took this photo while canoeing along Bolgoda Lake, more of that expedition on comming Saturday! Learn more about this plant....

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday's Trees Meme # 2

Bael /Aegle marmelos/බෙලි
 This plant provides ingredients for many Ayurveda remedies. The ripe fruit can be  eaten, or used to make juice. Dried and roasted leaves, dried flowers, or dried shell of the fruit make very appealing herbal tea.
learn more...... 




Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Moss

This moss grows on outdoor damp surfaces like rain-soaked garden walls. This specimen is from my garden wall too. This moss feels Velvet to touching.

Moss




Agaric Flora of Sri Lanka (Reference Book)
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Saturday, July 24, 2010

Fragrant Water Lily?

Identifying specimens can be pretty hectic some times. It was really so when I tried to determine the identity of this aquatic plant which is very common in Sri Lanka. The same plant was describe by some as Fragrant Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata) and White Lotus  (Nymphaea lotus) by others online! Any way I believe this to be Fragrant Water Lily, and if it is, it must probably have been introduced during the colonial times. 


Friday, July 2, 2010

A Small Strech Of Forest In The Middle Of The City Of Kurunegala -1

I've decided to make a series of posts with my observations at the recent visit to the Ethugala rock in the middle of Kurunegala. Surrounding the rock is a small forest, the exact area of which I don't know yet. Nor do I know what type of forest it exactly   is yet, but I guess it to be a mix of lowland wet   and dry zone forests, with tall trees drown closely together, some canopy, but much less underbrush, ferns, orchids and moss.  See how the forest is grown on both sides of the twisting road that gets you to the top of the rock.
















This palm, Caryota urens , is locally called Kithul.   A sugary fluid can be collected by manipulating the flower in a certain way,which is used to produce treacle, todi, and and jaggery.     









There is some vegetation on the rock surface too, but they are sort of pygmy, a natural bonsai effect caused by lack of soil to grow in.









This is a rare sight, a flowering Corypha umbraculifera (Talipot palm).(center of the pic) This palm bares a flower only once with in its lifetime, and considered a bad omen by local folks when it does.  








There is plenty of evidence that a considerable proportion of the forest is secondary forest, clearings and coconut palms.

All right, that's all for today, but, to be continued, stay put!