A tale of Two Flowers: The Glory Lily and a One-Eyed Elephant

Nellamar Agraharam
circa: July 23rd, 2022

The monsoon begets its colour - greys, and green dominate the sky and the farm earth - but, in the forest, the Gloriosa Superba - or Glory Lilly, in English - is in bloom. 

There is no sight more beautiful or a flower more delicate than this, a work of subtle art, tapestry and weave.  In a dense foliage of green, rendered lush by rain, the red-and-yellow stands in fetching contrast.
 

In a month or two, the flowers will wither away and the creeper will assume its unostentatious air, but for now, it is a show to watch.  The scarcity of its beauty makes it special.  Special enough to be on a postage stamp in an era when two rupees fetched you a day's meal. 

Pause for a moment to consider why the normal rules that mark out a flower are overturned here, with the stamens outside (unlike, say, Intel) and at a rakish angle to catch the ventral side of butterflies who are the pollinators-in-chief.  

 

In pollination terms, - and Bob Dylan will have strong views on this -  the answer, my friend, isn't blowing in the wind. 

 

Mottai Waal - the one-eyed gentle elephant, was here too, but he doesn't quite have an eye - his remaining one - for flowers.  

...and he left behind (pun intended), in this pile, a few seeds of Careya Arborea after chomping on its fruit (samples added to picture)., that are now sprouting away  Careya is another magically beautiful flower, and rare.  We need more like him