Gigantic swallow wort/ Crown flower (Calotropis gigantea)

[J.M. Garg]

On 20/7/08 in Hyderabad, AP. Here are some extracts from Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calotropis_gigantea

Calotropis gigantea (Crown flower) is a species of Calotropis, native to 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 leaves and milky stem.

The flowers last long, and in Thailand they are used in various floral arrangements. They were also supposed to be popular with the Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani, who considered them as symbol of royalty and wore them strung into leis. In India, the plant is common in the compounds of temples. The fruit is a follicle and when dry, seed dispersal is by wind. This plant plays host to a variety of insects and butterflies.

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With regards,
J.M.Garg
"We often ignore the beauty around us"
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[satish phadke]

Beautiful pictures with bright deep coloured flowers
Earlier discussed in the group..................
A shrub from Aesclepediaceae family
Indicative features of this family seen here are...........
Milkweed.. if you cut small branch milky sap flows.
Opposite leaves.
Flowers :  Pentamerous( 5 Petals), Actinomorphic(Radial symmetry in many planes), A typical pentagonous corona( for the insects to land)seen in the flower.
Seeds with hairs(See attached picture)Blown with wind like silk cotton.
Favorite of some butterflies.
Satish

[J.M. Garg]

From Revi ji:

"THE SEEDS ARE VERY LIGHT AND COMMONLY CALLED  GRAND PA 'S BEARD IN MALAYALAM (APPOOPAN THADI) IT JUST FLOATS AS A COTTON WISP.
REVI UNNI"

[Chitra Shanker]

In Hyderabad I have seen three types of flower bunches, the one shown, another white and anther smaller rounded type. This common name is new to me. But we call it milkweed
CHitra

[Mahadeswara Swamy]

Can anybody pin point  few striking   morphological features differentiating the two species of Calotropis procera and C.gigantea.  More often than not, these  species are mistaken for each other.
Dr. Mahadeswara swamy

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[J.M. Garg]

I think it was also discussed earlier on this forum. Here is good write up on this by one of our esteemed members Sh. Pankah Oudhia: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/CropFactSheets/calotropis.html