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Calotropis gigantea
Calotropis gigantea (Crown flower) is a species of Calotropis native to Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and China. It is a large shrub growing to 4 m tall. It has clusters of waxy flowers that are either white or lavender in colour. Each flower consists of five pointed petals and a small, elegant "crown" rising from the centre, which holds the stamens. The plant has oval, light green fuzzy leaves and a milky stem. In India, the plant is common in the compounds of temples and is known as Madar. The fruit is a follicle and when dry, seed dispersal is by wind. This plant plays host to a variety of insects and butterflies. In Indonesia its flowers is called widuri.
Yes Yuko, #6 is the seed pod already dispersing seeds. The green one behind is an unripe pod.
@Nayi, happy that you now know the name of this amazing flower and can look up the info on it... Somewhere I also heard that the flower was poisonous.
thanks Nuwan for the ID. I've always wondered what this plant is. It grows wild in great abundance around here.
Have seen those in childhood. I was told the flowers are poisonous. Look forward to learn more about it.
Spotted on Dec 18, 2012
Submitted on Dec 20, 2012
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