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...

Scientific Name: Tecoma stans or Stenolobium stans IUCN Status: Least Concern It is also called as Yellow Trumpet Flower or Yellow Elder. It is the official flower of US Virgin Islands and it is the floral emblem of Bahamas. Its Generic name Tecoma is derived from Nahuatl or Aztec word - Tecomaxochitl which was applied by indigenous peoples of Mexico to plants with tubular flowers resembling a certain earthen ware vessel. (Nahuatl and Aztecs are native people of Mexico and Central America) It is native to Mexico, Central and South America ( Latin America ) , but it is now widely naturalized in tropical regions. It is an erect branched shrub about 2 to 4 meters height. Hence the Species name Stans which means erect. It bears its green foliage almost to the ground. Flowers are clear yellow and fragrant, appear in close dropping clusters from the end of the branchlets. Each bloom is a 2inch trumpet which on emerging from the pale green...

Scientific Name: Duranta erecta or Duranta repens or Duranta spinosa. IUCN Status: Least Concern This invasive flowering shrub of Verbenaceae family is a native of Asia, Africa and Central and South America. It is also called Pigeon Berry and Sky flower . The Genus Duranta is named in honour of 15 th CE Italian Botanist- Castore Durante . The Species erecta means upright. It is an evergreen upright shrub with a height of 1-3m and with bright, shiny leaves. There are usually at least some pairs of spines along the stems, on located at the base of each of the leaf stalks- hence the name Duranta spinosa . It produces clusters of tiny lavender or sky blue coloured flowers in elongated clusters on terminal and auxiliary stems- hence the name Sky Flower . Blue Sky Flowers- petals with central dark stripe Flowers are sub-sessile and each flower made up of 5 fused petals which have darker stripe in the centre. Each flower has 5 green s...