Today I am posting a very popular tropical flower known as Aboli in marathi or Firecracker in english . my mom had planted aboli seeds during her last visit in a small mug .Last month this plant started flowering & i took step by step snaps while flowers were blooming.
Crossandra infundibuliformis (firecracker flower), is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to southern India and Sri Lanka.
Description
It is an erect, evergreen subshrub growing to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) with glossy, wavy-margined leaves and fan-shaped flowers, which may appear at any time throughout the year. The flowers are unusually shaped with 3 to 5 asymmetrical petals. They grow from four-sided stalked spikes, and have a tube-like ¾ inch stalk. Flower colours range from the common orange to salmon-orange or apricot, coral to red, yellow and even turquoise.
This is basically a bush.
Name
The common name "firecracker flower" refers to the seed pods, which are found after the flower has dried up, and tend to "explode" when near high humidity or rainfall. The "explosion" releases the seeds onto the ground, thereby creating new seedlings. It is popularly known as Kanakambaram in Tamil (கனகாம்பரம்), Malayalam and Telugu and Kanakambara in Kannada.
Cultivation
This plant requires a minimum temperature of 50 °F (10 °C), and in temperate regions is cultivated as a houseplant. It is usually grown in containers but can be attractive in beds as well. The flowers have no perfume but stay fresh for several days on the bush. A well-tended specimen will bloom continuously for years. It is propagated by seeds or cuttings.This plant grows from seeds that come after each bloom. At the end of the flowering bunch when the flowers have dried one can see dried tiny seeds . The plant can be grown with these seeds.
uses
usesThe tiny flowers are often strung together into strands, sometimes along with white jasmine flowers and therefore in great demand for making garlands which are offered to temple deities or used to adorn women’s hair.In maharashtra & south you will find many ladies wearing these flowers in hair in the form of gajra or veni. Aboli flowers look very beautiful and bright fresh orange and peach coloured flowers.They are available very cheap and can be purchased from any flower seller. These flowers grow in bunches and hence each stem will give a good produce of aboli flowers.
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