There was a Malabar spinach and a guava growing next to the coconut tree. When we brought down the coconut tree in November, these two seemed to disappear too. Or so we thought. The roots of the guava were still intact; they sprang up again about a month ago. If that was a surprise, the spinach followed soon after, pushing through the soil. The seeds had lain safely buried in the earth, and the soil had remembered to send them back into the light, to see the sky once more.
During my usual stroll in the garden in the evening I found this unusual Magnolia leaf on the ground. I picked it up and found it was joined in the middle, probably two developing Magnolia champaca leaves had fused at the base or midrib, creating a twin-leaf structure. Had I not noticed, it would have got lost in the night. I remembered that the last time I saw a a conjoined leaf was from a guava tree.
Botanically, such a formation is known as synphyllous or a Conjoined Leaf Anomaly, likely the result of a developmental glitch during bud formation. It may have been triggered by environmental stress, insect damage at the bud stage, or simply a random genetic misstep.
Nature often surprises us with these brief deviations from the norm—like a poetic pause in an otherwise rhythmic sentence. I’ve pressed it between sheets of paper to remember this quiet oddity.
Your Channel No 5 perfume has it. Some of your expensive body massage oil also has it as well. It is a star ingredient in luxury and aromatic products. And therefore one of the most sought after flowers apart from Jasmine for its heady fragrance. It is called Ylang- Ylang. There are two varieties. This climbing Ylang-Ylang is called, Artabotrys hexapetalus. The other variety is Cananga Odorata which has similar type of fragrant flowers but is long stalked. This is a climbing vine that also has a shrubby look. The peduncle forms a hook that helps in climbing. The name “ylang-ylang” comes from the Tagalog term “ilang-ilang,” meaning “wilderness,” reflecting its natural habitat. Local names are beautiful for they describe the character of a flower. In Tamil it is called Manoranjitham meaning that which captivates the mind. It is beleieved that if you inhale the fragrance of the flower thinking of a fruit, you can smell the fruit. There are six green petals in the blooming stage which turn yellow as the flower fades making it even more aromatic. The flower is at its height of fragrance late in the evening and is pollinated by nocturnal moths and insects. A oval shaped fruit forms sometimes.