Trees in my garden

[M Farooq]

Excellent! You certainly have a rare collection of flowering plants. Keep educating us about your collections...we will create profiles of interesting plants with time in our slowly our steadily growing database.

[mikhurram]

4. Ravenala madagascariensis (Travellers-Tree)

Because of its curious appearance and remarkable fan shaped leaves, the Travellers-Tree bears similarity to both Banana and Palm plants. Its deep green leaves extend from the trunk resembling a fan. It is related to the Strelitzias (Bird of Paradise family) The common name of this plants suggest its use, for, if a hole is bored through a leaf base near the stem, up to a pint of remarkably good drinking water wells out helping quench the thirst of weary travellers.

It tends to produce suckers (also visible in the images) and also produces seeds which I have yet to see and they supposedly blue in colour. It’s still a mystery that why the colour of seeds is blue? Botanists believe it is related to Lemurs who along with this plant are from Madagascar. Lemurs pollinate this tree by sticking their long tongues to reach the nectars inside the flowers and by doing so transfer pollen from plant to plant. Upon successful pollination the seeds pods develop. The fuzzy blue appendage attached to seeds is eaten and fancied by Lemurs who also help to disperse seeds and are only capable of seeing green or blue colour.

Flowers are white and this this tree can be grown both in full sun or part shade/sun and tolerates all types of soil. It is commonly available in all nurseries.

[M Farooq]

Dear Khurram sb, could you fill in the details about your last two trees at your convenience? Your plants would be good addition to the database...

Botanical Name	ABC
Family	ABC
Genus	ABC
Specie	ABC
Local Name in Urdu	ABC
Common Name	ABC
Life Cycle	ABC
Cultivar Name	ABC
Fragrant or Not	ABC
Category(Bush/Vine/Tree)	ABC
Height	ABC
Spacing	ABC
Flowering Months	ABC
Flower Color	ABC
Growing Areas	ABC
Frost Tender	ABC
Exposure	ABC
Soil pH	ABC
Propagation	ABC
Uses	ABC
Other Details	ABC RETT EEYY YRYERY TYU YY5YTRY TRYYRYEYERY YREYEYYRYEY RYEY REY EY Y FGHDFHFDHH HFHFHFHHDFHHH

[mikhurram]

Dr farooq shall do so but the form template is not accessible on the main page. Or can you message me your email address along with the sample template. I'll fill it up.
Regards

[M Farooq]

Thanks. I have pm'ed my email to you.

[mikhurram]

5. CHIR PINE - PINUS ROXBURGHII
This pine tree is native to the Himalayan range and be seen commonly while travelling towards Murree and in its forests. Mature tree are supposedly relatively resistant to fire. Being a deciduous tree it tends to shed it's leaves which can create a mess in the ground. Cones of Chir Pine are also used by native people as fuel wood.

[aykhan]

Check out my Uncarina
viewtopic.php?f=65&t=1738&start=130

I thought mine is Uncarina ducreyi but not sure. I took 3 cuttings in monsoon and stuck them in a peaty mix. All three rooted in negligence are doing fine. The cuttings are not dormant but the mother plant just went dormant. I bought mine for Rs 2000 if I remember correctly (asking was Rs 3500 I think from Abbas)

[Muhammad Arif Khan]

The silk floss tree (Ceiba speciosa, formerly Chorisia speciosa), is a deciduous tree native to South America. Grown merely as an ornamental tree it starts bearing flowers at the end of October which last till the end of January. Being drought tolerant this tree thrives in ordinary soil and does not require any maintenance. Birds often drop the flowers which look messy apart from the shed leaves. Green trunk of this tree is covered by thorns. I bought an year old sapling in 2005 which was planted in a site having full sun. Apart from the pink flower this tree also has a yellow coloured flower cultivar whose photos were recently posted by Brig Arif Sahib. Given a choice i wouldn't recommend planting it as there is little utility of this tree as it doesn't benefit the wildlife e.g bees or butterflies etc. Nevertheless some people find it beautiful.

Mine were planted in 2010
Look at the display, I am happy with them;



Bees love them;



Arif

[mikhurram]

Sir it is indeed spectacular and all the photos especially of the bee have been captured very nicely. Thank you for informing us that bees love them which can be added in the plant profile in the database section. Even myself was unaware of this useful information and used to think that the flowers of this tree had no utility and served merely an ornamental purpose.

[mikhurram]

Chinese Lemon variety is the most productive variety.

Lemon probably has the most varied usage than any other citrus fruit variety. Richness of Vitamin C makes lemon an indispensable part of our diet. It is used to flavour fish, meat, puddings, salad dressings and inevitably used in soft drinks and green tea etc.

The native home of lemon is believed to the warm, humid location in northern Burma or Assam in eastern India.

The Arabs are credited for introducing lemon and lime to Persia, Palestine and Egypt and from there onwards lemon was introduced to Europe via the Mediterranean belt in particular Italy where the cultivation of lemon picked up.


Chinese Lemon