Floricard - A record of Flora around me

Scientific Name: Catharanthus rosea or Vinca rosea or Lochnera rosea IUCN Status: Endangered (in the wild) This flowering plant of Apocynaceae family is native and endemic to Madagascar. Now it is naturalized in all tropical countries. It is also called as Graveyard plant - because the plant’s toughness and ability to survive in desolate, bleak and stony graveyards. It  was first described in 1759 by Carl Von Linne -a Swedish Naturalist as Vinca rosea . In 1838, it was renamed as Lochnera rosea by Stephen Ladislaus Endlicher - an Austrain Botanist. At the same time, George Don - a Scottish Botanist created the Genus Catharanthus , from Greek word Katharos ~ pure; anthos ~ a flower; on account of the neat and beautiful flowers distinguishing it from Vinca Genus.   The Species roseus means rose colored because of Rosidin - a pink anthocyanin pigment. Its White variant is Catharanthus alba .  Due to extensive forest fires in Africa, this Species i...

Scientific Name- Mirabilis jalapa IUCN Status- Not Evaluated It belongs to the family Nyctanginaceae (Bougainvillea family). It is the Children’s State Flower of Connecticut (an US State) under the name of Michaela Petit’s Four 0’ clocks . (Michaela was among the 3 died in Cheshire Home invasion murders in 2007. 4 ‘0’ Clocks are her favorite.) It is also called Marvel of Peru or 4 ‘0’ Clock Flower. Its Generic name Mirabilis is derived from a Latin word which means Wonderful- to be admired. Its Species name has 2 attributes. Some say it is from Jalapa - a city of Mexico . Some say it is originally Xalapa - a city of Guatemala . Both these seem to be true- as Mirabilis is native of Central and South America - Guatemala, Mexico, Chile and Peru . It is now a naturalized exotic worldwide. The flowers of Mirabilis open in the late afternoon and close to next morning. Hence they are named 4’0’ Clocks. It is called Gul Abbas , Sandhyamalath...