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Project Noah Nature School
Calotropis gigantea
Bush about 3 meters tall with dark purple flowers where the "stigma and androecium are fused to form a gynostegium. The pollen are enclosed in pollinia (a coherent mass of pollen grains). The pollinia are attached to an adhesive glandular disc at the stigmatic angle. When a bee lands on these, the disc gets attached to its legs and thus the pollinia are pulled out when the bee moves away. When the bee visits another flower, the flower gets pollinated." There is no smell from these flowers. The leaves and stalks are silver and soft.
Balboa Park. This is "native to Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and China. Calotropis species are usually found in abandoned farmland. Cattle often stay away from the plants because of their unpleasant taste and due to presence of cardiac glycosides in their sap." - Wikipedia
"They are poisonous plants; calotropin, a compound in the latex, is more toxic than strychnine. Calotropin is similar in structure to two cardiac glycosides which are responsible for the cytotoxicity of Apocynum cannabinum. Extracts from the flowers of Calotropis procera have shown strong cytotoxic activity in the patients of colorectal cancer. They are harmful to the eyes." - Wikipedia
Spotted on Jul 21, 2012
Submitted on Jul 23, 2012
7 Comments
Beautiful!!!
Oh... I just said what I find... but I do not know what called in your area. Glad to know its same like here. This plant is doing great job currently here across India. so many Arthropod organism are depend on this shrub plant. I will post if get good spotting with hosting this plant. Nowadays this plant always make me to halt and look after its most leaves where ever I locate this.
I'll be sure to return to look for the fruit. You did a great job documenting the fruit on your species!
Hi Ashish, it is! I'll update the common name now. Thank you!
Giant Milkweed..?
The color is gorgeous! The milkweed (C.procera) that grows here has lovely flowers, too, but mostly white with just purple tips. I checked my collection but I guess I haven't uploaded images of the blooms. This is what the fruit looks like though:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/113...
I wonder what the fruit of your milkweed will look like.
It's my first time seeing a Milkweed anywhere! It was obviously planted here but apparently it's the most common species seen. The color seems a bit unique according to what I've read about it.
Beautiful! So interesting to see another species of Calotropis...which is one of the most abundant trees in my town.