Subhasis Banerjee

  DANDELION Dandelion is a species of flowering plants that grow in many parts of the world. They are also known as Taraxacum officinale . They may in general appear to be a very stubborn weed but in reality they are of tremendous health benefits to humans. For ages, they have been traditionally used to treat a number of human physical ailments and disorders. The species of Taraxacum are tap-rooted, perennial, herbaceous plants native to temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. The genus contains many species which usually reproduce by apomixis, resulting in many local populations and endemism. In the British Isles alone, 234 microspecies are recognised in 9 loosely defined sections of which 40 are probably endemic. The flower head is surrounded by bracts in two series. The inner bracts are erect until the seeds mature and then flex downward to allow the seeds to disperse. The outer bracts are often reflexed downward but remain pressed in plants of the sections Palustria ...

ORBEA CAUDATA Orbea Caudata is a penta-pointed fleshy starry flower blooming in late summer or autumn. The blooms are delicate and beautiful but exude an intense smell of rotten meat. This perfume attracts blow flies which are the natural pollinators. It is a low clumping perennial succulent species that spread over the ground forming lax cushions. The stems are long-tapering teeth-like, spine-like, more or less spaced, horizontally spreading or up-curved. The flowers are usually solitary or a few bunched together in pseudo-umbels near the base of stem and rarely more than two open at once. Flowering stalks are erect; buds are angled and terminating in a slight spiral. Orbea Caudata grows in dry, rocky places dominated by different shrub communities. It almost always grows in half-shaded position under the protection of bushes and small trees. This species is found in widely separated localities, hence resulting in several varieties of subspecies.

CALLA LILY FLOWER The Calla Lily is a perennial bulb. Though called a lily, Calla Lilies are not really Lilies. Calla is a flowering genus of twenty-eight species originating in Africa and growing mostly in marshy areas. Calla Lilies are grown from bulbous roots with finger-like growths. Calla Lily flowers emerge in mid to late summer and last for weeks. You can choose from many colours, including classic white (a favourite for weddings), yellow, orange, pink, rose, lavender and dark maroon. In the garden or in a vase, Calla Lilies are elegant and always impressive. In many paintings and other works of art throughout history, the Calla Lily has been depicted with the Virgin Mary or Angel of Annunciation. For this reason, it has been associated with holiness, faith and purity. Additionally, as the cone-line flowers blossom in spring, they have become symbols of youth and rebirth .

BELLFLOWER Campanula is one of several genera of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae with the common name Bellflower. It takes both its common and its scientific name from its bell-shaped flowers— campanula is Latin for "little bell". Bellflower (genus Campanula) includes any of around 420 annual, perennial and biennial herbs that compose the genus Campanula (family Campanulaceae) . Bellflowers have characteristically bell-shaped, usually blue flowers, and many are cultivated as garden ornamentals. Most  Bellflowers  begin blooming in July and keep on flowering until frost. The sweetness of its smell is  similar to  candle wax mixed with amber and lipstick. The flowers are produced in panicles, sometimes solitary, and have a five-lobed corolla, typically 2 to 5 cm or more long, mostly blue to purple, sometimes also white or pink. Below the corolla, 5 leaf-like sepals form the calyx. Some species have a small additional leaf...

ANEMONE Anemone is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to the temperate zones. The genus is closely related to several other genera such as Pulsatilla and Hepatica. Some botanists include both of these genera within Anemone. Anemone s are perennials that have basal leaves with long leaf-stems that can be upright or prostrate. Leaves are simple or compound with lobed, parted, or undivided leaf blades. The leaf margins are toothed or entire. Flowers with 4 to 7 sepals are produced singly, in cymes of 2 to 9 flowers, or in umbels, above a cluster of leaf or sepal-like bracts. Sepals may be of any colour. The pistils have one ovule. The flowers have nectarines, but petals are missing in the majority of species. The fruits are ovoid to obovoid shaped achenes that are collected together in a tight cluster, ending variously lengthened stalks; though many species have sessile clusters terminating ...