Amazing Blue of Nature

A few days ago, I was walking through the University of Dhaka. It was a bright day and there were fewer students around than usual as the Eid vacation had just ended. Various plants on the campus always attract me and I try to observe if there is something new.

While walking that day, suddenly, I noticed some hanging bluish flowers. The colour and shape of the blooms were really eye-catching, as was the arrangement of the gently twining petals. I remembered seeing similar flowers in Kolkata, India a few months ago. It was a gloomy afternoon there; I was searching for a specific alley and got surprised by this magic of nature in front of an old building. It was a border of blue under the grey sky _ bundles of the bell-like flowers were swinging in the gentle wind. I forgot what I was looking for and just became speechless. And here, on my university campus, the same flowers impressed me once more.

        This flower is called ‘neel lata’ (blue creeper) in Bangla. But I got a different version of the name from naturalist Dwijen Sharma’s book ‘Phoolgulo Jeno Kotha’, where he mentions it as ‘neelbonolota’ (blur wild vine). Other names for this flower are Bengal clock vine, Bengal trumpet vine, blue sky flower, blue trumpet vine, etc. Its scientific name is thunbergia grandiflora. Whatever the name is, it is one of the most beautiful vines I have ever seen.  

The creeper’s stem is like a hard rope and it climbs with the support of another larger plant. Here, the supportive plant is kadam (burflower tree), and sometimes it becomes confusing as to which plant the flowers really belongs to.

Neel lata’s heart-shaped leaves make for velvety greenery, and the flower’s five elongated petals make a bell shape which, with the hanging buds, can appear like wind chimes. Inside the flower, there is a cup-like yellow portion. There are also white and violet versions of the clock vine. I have not seen its fruits yet, but from Dwijen Sharma’s writing, I can say that they are hard and 3-5 cm in size.

The flowers bloom from March to November.

Photos: Writer

Amazing Blue of Nature

A few days ago, I was walking through the University of Dhaka. It was a bright day and there were fewer students around than usual as the Eid vacation had just ended. Various plants on the campus always attract me and I try to observe if there is something new. While walking that day, suddenly, I noticed some hanging bluish flowers. The colour and shape of the blooms were really eye-catching, as was the arrangement of the gently twining petals. I remembered seeing similar flowers in Kolkata, India a few months ago. It was a gloomy afternoon there; I was searching for a specific alley and got surprised by this magic of nature in front of an old building. It was a border of blue under the grey sky _ bundles of the bell-like flowers were swinging in the gentle wind. I forgot what I was looking for and just became speechless. And here, on my university campus, the same flowers impressed me once more. This flower is called neel lata (blue creeper) in Bangla. But I got a different version of the name from naturalist Dwijen Sharmas book Phoolgulo Jeno Kotha, where he mentions it as neelbonolota (blur wild vine). Other names for this flower are Bengal clock vine, Bengal trumpet vine, blue sky flower, blue trumpet vine, etc. Its scientific name is thunbergia grandiflora. Whatever the name is, it is one of the most beautiful vines I have ever seen. The creepers stem is like a hard rope and it climbs with the support of another larger plant. Here, the supportive plant is kadam (burflower tree), and sometimes it becomes confusing as to which plant the flowers really belongs to. Neel latas heart-shaped leaves make for velvety greenery, and the flowers five elongated petals make a bell shape which, with the hanging buds, can appear like wind chimes. Inside the flower, there is a cup-like yellow portion. There are also white and violet versions of the clock vine. I have not seen its fruits yet, but from Dwijen Sharmas writing, I can say that they are hard and 3-5 cm in size. The flowers bloom from March to November. Photos: Writer