Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Weekend Flower Photos, Chrysothemis pulchelia

I have a lot of flower photo collections in my files.

Never mind that i only have a Point and Shoot camera, it doesn't deter me from shooting a lot of pictures. Of course it frustrates me when i want to take some bird photos in their natural environment, or if i want to take macro photos of the creatures and flower morphology which are very delicate but beautiful. I also have a lot of butterflies, moths, spiders, and a lot of creatures i still don't know the names. Buying a good DSLR is still a frustration!

But first, i am trying to post some photos of flowers i took last weekend in the province. Copper leaf plant, Chrysothemis pulchelia, is an endearing plant. It is easy to grow by cuttings. Each portion of the stem can easily be propagated, it can just be left in the soil and even with just a little moisture will grow. But of course it must not be left directly under the sun, as any other newly planted ornamental should.

As the name implies, the leaves are a bit coppery, and a bit shiny. (The different colors in the photos are just changes in the camera settings). If they are newly growing in a rich soil (organic), the leaves are wide and really looking vigorous. As the branches begin to grow and multiply, then the leaves become smaller and the stem gets weaker.

The red-colored "flowers" are not really flowers but the enlarged sepals. The real flowers are actually the yellow little ones arising from the red sepals. If you are not into the plant sciences, but just a hobbyist, just look at the photo and don't bother with the terms. Up close, these yellow flowers are elongated with cup-like petals. The female and male parts of the flower are inside these yellow cups. Please forgive my not so hightech camera, but you can still see the parts i am describing, though not as big and dramatic as it should be.


I am trying to look for some newly formed fruits but i cannot see one. Maybe in the future i will be able to show these when already available.

2 comments:

  1. I also have seen this plant in quite a number of places here, just that I don't know its name. Your point and shoot cameras can take great pictures too. Just that we cannot zoom to take clear pictures of birds and wildlife.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have this plant in my garden.
    Its also identified as "Black Flamingo" if you have the time, do check about it in my blog - look for the plant names on the right side panel.

    Don't be frustrated about your camera,it happens but the more you continue to snap & take pictures, the more you become expert at it and before you know it - you become very good at it.

    Just few notes about this plant,it doesn't have fruit (or maybe I haven't seen one yet) but you will find some baby shoots coming out of its rhizome. Also watch out for whitefly. The plant may eventually mature & die, so you may have to take some cuttings & replant them time to time.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments inspire me to post more, and our conversations make life and gardening more meaningful.

However, Anonymous comments and personal back links give me problems, so i don't publish them. Anonymous + back links = SPAM = DELETE

Related Posts with Thumbnails