NATURE’S HIDDEN GEMS – THE BAOBAB FLOWERS

NATURE’S HIDDEN GEMS – THE BAOBAB FLOWERS

 

“To walk into nature is to witness a thousand miracles,” said, Mary Davis. Here is one of nature’s miracles – the Baobab Flowers.

Call it what you will, “Serendipity/Fluke/Good Luck/Chance/Providence or Coincidence”, that’s exactly how I stumbled upon one of nature’s hidden gems – The Baobab Flowers that bloom on the African Tree of Life – The Baobab Tree, (Botanical Name: Adansonia digita), in the beautiful campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore. India.

 Native to the African Savanna, the Baobab tree is as iconic as the African Elephant and it is said, “to see a baobab flower in bloom can be rarer that encountering a black rhino”

 Spectacular Baobab Flowers:

A sight to behold:  The opening of the pendulum like flower buds being in the late afternoon, first the outer shell of the buds rolls up towards the stalks, then the white petals of the calyx appear from their sheath, then follows the pistil (corolla tube) and within seconds the petals unfold just as one would open an umbrella, a remarkable sight indeed. Finally, the inside of the flower with the stamen is visible.

Currently blooming in the Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK) campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore, India are these enchanting and elegant flowers.

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