THE SPECTACULAR BRONZE SHOWER TREE IN THE IISc CAMPUS

 

THE BRONZE SHOWER TREE

(BOTANICAL NAME: Cassia moschata)

IN THE CAMPUS

OF THE

 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE

BANGALORE

 

HERALDING THE ONSET OF SUMMER

THE BRONZE SHOWER TREE (BOTANICAL NAME: Cassia moschata)

IISc Campus, Bangalore.

                           

 

The 400 acre wooded campus of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore is a “Botanist’s Delight”, with over 800 species of flowering plants and trees blooming around the year. The lush green vegetation, the stunning range of flowers and a variety of birds and butterflies has rendered the campus a dream setting for nature enthusiasts and conservationists.

                                    Aerial View of the Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore

It was Mr. German Botanist and Garden Designer G.H. Krumbiegel, the then Superintendent of the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, who was initially involved in landscaping the campus. There were several others after him who continued his legacy and one among them was B S Nirody, who was also largely responsible for transforming the campus to what it is today.

Today the campus is an astonishingly beautiful lush-green oasis, with its own distinctive microclimate and ambience, thanks to the landscape architects of yesteryears and to their abiding love for plants. An in-house nursery and garden with a dedicated team of gardeners maintains and nurtures the green oasis.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), often called the Tata Institute, after its benefactor and founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, by local residents, is one of Bangalore’s enduring landmarks. The lush green vegetation of the campus provides the Institute with an environment, which is the envy of those who reside in the midst of the urban chaos that characterizes Bangalore today.

                             The Tata Statue and Memorial at IISc. Photo Courtesy Dr. K Sankara Rao

The Institute has grown over a century on a large tract of land (now about 400 acres), gifted by the then Maharaja of Mysore, His Highness Shri Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, in March 1907. The Institute formally came into existence on 27 May 1909 when the British Government issued the Vesting Order. The lush greenery of today, which has come to be the Institute’s characteristic feature, is the result of planting and nurturing by generations of lovers of nature. In fact, the campus of the Indian Institute of Science is among the oldest and the largest preserves of the botanical wealth of Bangalore.

                                THE BRONZE SHOWER TREE at IISc

Currently blooming in the Campus is this showy handsome tree – The Bronze Shower Tree, Botanical Name: Cassica moschata, with a spectacular display of brilliant orange-copper-yellow cascade of flowers in long pendants. Appropriately named the BRONZE SHOWER TREE.

Probably the only Bronze Shower Tree in the entire campus.

Located in the Eastern Side of the IISc Main Building.

 

 

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