Long horn beetle (Cerambycidae)

Long horn beetle females make small holes in the bark of a living tree and lay their eggs. Tiny grubs, which hatch from eggs, start chewing the bark. But as the become larger, they bore tunnels in the central wood. A few of these grubs are capable of killing even large trees.

Long horn beetle

Grub of a Long horn beetle

Initial symptom of their attack on the tree is exudation of gummy substance and wood dust falling out. If tapped on such surface, one can hear hollow sound. At that stage, one can peel out hollow skin and pick the grubs. But once they enter the core wood by making a tunnel, it is rather difficult to kill them.

Arrow indicates wood dust

Mouth parts of the grub

The treatment: a- Remove the hollow bark and pickup the larvae. b- Apply liquid coal tar, mixed with pesticide powder on the cleaned surface. C- If the grubs have tunneled in the wood, then insert either naphthalene crystals in to the tunnel and seal it with wet mud. Alternately, cotton swab dipped in petrol or in Carbon tetra chloride could be inserted in the tunnels.

Tree killed by grubs of  Long horn beetle

Dead branch being cut off

Coal tar mixed with pesticide applied on the affected parts

Once in a mango orchard I caught a Long horn beetle and kept it in a plastic jar. It was a female beetle; because, next day I saw about 30 eggs in the jar.

Female with her eggs

Female with her eggs

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Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)

Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) is a bird with complete black feathers. Its tail feathers are forked. It is a very voracious eater of insects; hence a beneficial bird for farmers. These birds are aerial acrobats. Quite often they do these acrobatics to catch the insects mid-air. Can be seen perching on overhead telephone/electric wires or on bare tree tops. This enables them to spy the insects on the ground or flying about.

They are very aggressive birds. They attack any other predatory birds approaching their territory. Because of this, many other smaller birds find nesting site near Drongo’s nesting territory. Due to its aggressive behavior, which gives safety to many other birds, its name in Marathi is कोतवाल (police). It has also earned a name ‘King Crow’. This bird is native to India, Sri Lanka and some other countries in Asia.

Branched palm, Ravan taad, Doum palm (Hyphaene dichotoma)

Among those palms which have branching, Ravan taad (Hyphaene dichotoma) is the only one (as far as I know) that produces multiple branching above ground. There are many palms which grow in clusters. These suckering palms branch underground or just on soil surface. Occasionally Areca palms (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens) can be seen having a branch well above ground. Coconut trees (Cocos nucifera) are single stem trees. But I know of at least two Coconut palms which have branched well above ground. A coconut palm with two branches was there on Sindhudurg fort in Konkan, Maharashtra. In Santacruz West, Mumbai also there was a coconut tree with 3 branches. But such branching is not normal.

Hyphaene dichotoma

Branched palm, Ravan taad, Doum palm (Hyphaene dichotoma)

Branched palm, Ravan taad, Doum palm (Hyphaene dichotoma)

Ravan taad is indigenous to India.  It is found growing naturally in coastal areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra. In many botanical gardens or private gardens this palm also can be seen. In Kolkata, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, one can see a large number of these palms.

Hyphaene dichotoma

This palm is very slow growing. It starts branching only after it has grown to certain height. Male and female inflorescence grows on separate trees. Hence to get fertilized fruit, one has to have both male and female trees.

Male tree

Female tree

The fruit is a hard shell nut. Outer skin is orange when the fruit is mature. The size of the fruit is about 6cm in length and about 4cm in diameter. I had planted about 10 fruits of this plant, out of which only 2 sprouted in to new growth. It took about 12 months for sprouting the seeds.

Fruit

Seed sprouting after 1 year

Perennial aster (Aster amellus)

Aster amellus is a small herb-like plant and flowers with great profusion. It belongs to Asteraceae family. There are many varieties of this plant with many different colours. A single plant produces many suckers as baby plants, which can be divided to propagate new plants. These plants are ideal for group planting or even as pot plants. They bloom almost all year round but profusion of flowers is mainly in summer and monsoon

Aster amellus

http://gardentia.net/2012/12/06/perennial-aster-4/

Aster amellus

Aster amellus

Aster amellus

Aster amellus

Flowers are borne on tall stalks in a cluster. They last over a week. They are also very suitable for floral arrangements due to their long lasting quality. As soon as the flowering stalk starts drying, it must be cut off at the base only; this will help to form new blooms. The plant needs a sunny location. Planting medium should be moist all the time. Stagnation of water can kill it.

Cassia fistula (Indian Laburnum)

Indian Laburnum is one of the most beautiful trees of Indian origin. It blooms early summer with pendant tresses of golden bunches. The flowers, individually, seem to be without any scent but when the tree is full of flowers it wafts beautiful scent all around. It is an unforgettable sight to see this tree in full bloom. In Kearala flowers of this tree are considered sacred. On festival day of Vishu, seeing these flowers first thing in morning is considered as very auspicious. There is a white flowering variety of this tree.

This tree is of medium size with compound leaves. It is a deciduous tree and is very drought resistant. In winter it sheds all its leaves and early summer it starts blooming. Its trunk is whitish grey. The wood is quite hard and has brownish coloured wood. After flowering, long, green pods start growing on the tree. The pods as they mature turn almost black. A pod has many compartments; each having a single seed. Some of course are without any seeds. There is a blackish gummy substance in the pod that has medicinal uses. It is used as a laxative; however excess of it can be quite harmful.
The tree is propagated with seeds. The seed coat is quite hard; hence if soaked in warm water for a day or two, they germinate faster. I have succeeded in propagating this tree even with root cuttings. Cassia fistula belongs to Caesalpiniaceae family.

Its common names are Indian laburnum tree,Bahava, Amaltas.

Pycnonotus cafer (Red-vented Bulbul) pair feeding the chicks

Yesterday my wife, Shobha, noticed a nest of Bulubul on a frond of a palm, just below our window. I decided to videograph it and here is the result of it.

The weather was quite cold due to light drizzle. The chicks, without any feathers, seemed to be uncomfortable. The parents, one by one used to get food and feed it to ever-hungry chicks. Occasionally one of the parents (most probably the mother) used to settle in the nest to warm up the chicks. Once a parent got a big chunk of food, which seemed like a piece of a grasshopper. After trying to feed it to each of the 3 chicks, only one succeeded in pushing it down the throat. These birds are Red-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus cafer).

Passionflowers (कृष्णकमळ)

There are many species of Passionflower climbers. They belong to Passifloraceae family. Most have very beautiful flowers. Some are highly scented. They are ideal for growing on an arch or on a trellis. These climbers have tendrils, which grip to support firmly and enables the plant to climb. Passionflower climbers can be propagated with stem cuttings. Some species bear fruit; these seeds can be used to make saplings.

Passiflora amethystina

Passiflora caerulea 

Passiflora coccinea 

Passiflora edulis

Passiflora foetida

Passiflora holosericea 

Passiflora incense

Passiflora misera 

Passiflora quadrangularis

Passiflora seemannii  

Passiflora trifasciata

Passiflora spp.

Tendrils

Passionflower climber grown on a fence

Fruit of some species have saffron coloured pulp. This pulp has excellent flavour. The pulp is used for making sherbets, squashes, jelly, milk shake & ice cream. However, since the pulp is quite sour, very small quantity of the pulp should be added while making milk shake or ice cream.

Tawny Coster laying eggs

Tawny Coster caterpillars on Passionflower leaves

These climbers are host to Tawny Coster butterfly caterpillars. A swarm of these butterflies settles on the leaves and lay clusters of eggs.Tawny Coster butterfly larvae feed on these plants voraciously. Apart from this pest, there are hardly any other pests for this plant.