Fhul Vedya Mai

The Bus stopped and there lay a carpet of Ground Orchids ,  to my surprise they were none other than Habenaria longicorniculata , the much awaited Sheput Habeamri also know as Long-Tailed Habenaria. I was personally thrilled as I was bored seeing this flower in a book , more than that I was amazed on  how Adesh could spot and identify the flower from the bus itself  , "The Long Erect Stalk" helped him to do so. Most of the time they are in pairs but there were instances where one stalk borne six flowers .
Flowers have a spur which is 10-15 cm long and it is believed that the only insect which pollinates it is a Hummingbird Hawk Moth .

Mysore Linseed

The birds were calling , admist those calls we stepped on the Lalu(Lalu the Politician) ie. Cyanotis fasciculata also known as Nilwanti . The flower cluster looks like a blue bunch of hair and so the common name Fluffy Cat Ears or Lalu (bunch of hair on his ears) .


                                                                

  

 The neglected Yellow tiny flowers of Mysore Linseed caught attention of a few people . The flowers with 5 petals and 5 stamens is commonly known as Undri in Marathi , don't know why ?

Alysicarpus pubescens

Single spike of a bi-colored flower caught attention of many photographers which is scientifically known as Alysicarpus pubescens , as the flowers are borne in densely hairy erect spikes( pubescence) .Its English common name is Bicolor Alyce Clover.


Then after reaching Amboli we all set out on a brunch trail in search of gorgeous ceacilians.

Malaxis versicolor

Malaxis versicolor

While  having a look at the Amphibians , we came across a few Orchids which were  in flowering . One of them was Malaxis versicolor which is a terrestrial orchid and named so because the flowers come in various colors .It is found in yellow (sun lit region)and purple (shady region) too. Ideally the flowers don't look much interesting from far but they are one the most beautiful flowers in macros, isn't it ?

Some Oberonia

Oberonia in flowering

The Orchid not in flowering was , Oberonia.These are Epiphytic in nature ,  means they are found on Trees , but do not draw nutrition from the trees ie.non-parasitic but use the trees only for the support.I personally have seen this orchid since many years at kass in September but never in flowering . Posting a photo of them in flowering too.


One Flower seen almost everywhere was Impatiens oppositifolia. The Features of this plant is that the leaves are narrow and they are oppositely placed and so the name. This belongs to the family Balsam and know commonly as Terda .
Impatiens are popular garden annuals and we get the seeds of various colors in the market just before rains.This Flower plays a major role in the hindu tradition during Ganpati and Gauri festival.

Impatiens oppositifolia

The next orchid not in flowering was the orchid commonly known as Silver Leaf known as Chanderi in marathi. Their flowering is in the months of Oct , Nov and Dec and so any one visiting Amboli in later months can check its flowering !!

Chanderi - Eria Exilis

On the way back from the brunch trail we saw Eria Dalzeli Orchid in flowering !!

Also seen were the Orchids not in flowering , Smithsonia viridiflora was one of them.It can be identified as it has two leaves most of the time. I have posted a flowering pic too , the flowering season is May-June .



Smithsonia viridiflora in Flowering

This is the second orchid not in flowering , know as Aerides. Since it was not in flowering it could be
Aerides crispa or Fox brush orchid , posting only the leaves which we saw.

Aerides

Habenaria Rariflora

On the last day, we saw Habenaria Rariflora in the abondoned fort on a wall also known as Chire Habeamri . As explained by Adesh , the flower is similar to the Habenaria grandifloriformis but the two differ in the Leaves.The Grandifloriformis has leaves very close to the ground .I myself have found the Rariflora comparatively rare.

Habenaria grandifloriformis

 
And now thanks to the forgotten Projector , we got to see one more Ground Orchid which thrilled Adesh . It was Liparis .

(Please note , not all images are mine and some images are used from web with due credits and are just for educational purpose.)