Colour of Summer

Knows as Kalyana Murugai or Mull Murukku (Erythrina Indica) is a thorny tree of rapid growth in warm regions and is planted for hedges. During March/April the tree blooms after shedding all its leaves and the crimson coloured flowers with numerous petals, spread in all directions is a feast to the eyes.

In Sanskrit, the tree is rightly called kinjukam meaning a parrot, as poet kalidasa likens the petal of this flower to the beak of the parrot. Sangam poets compare the colour and form of the petals to a claw of a lobster, blood-stained nails of a tiger, painted nails of a woman and to a cock’a comb. They have also recorded that crows, cuckoos and other birds eat the petals, filaments and pollen of this flower.

Ps. I captured these pictures during a visit to Kodaikanal, last year

Linking this post for Floral  Friday Foto