The trees are dead! Long live the forest!
Dead trees are vital habitats for nourishing life. Then why do we have a problem with them? Continue reading The trees are dead! Long live the forest!
Dead trees are vital habitats for nourishing life. Then why do we have a problem with them? Continue reading The trees are dead! Long live the forest!
Every year, leaves die off en masse during fall. What’s the science behind this glorious phenomenon? Continue reading Fall Fable – celebrating the en-masse death of leaves
Come spring, the first thing you would notice in every pocket of woods in Raleigh, NC are dazzling white flowers. Meet the Flowering Dogwood, the state flower of North Carolina Continue reading Dogwood Day Afternoon – A walk in the flowering woods
Trees are an inconvenience. Leaves falling, light being blocked, snakes showing up, tree roots destabilizing the walls, the need to widen the approach road – we have so many excuses to cut down our trees, and none for planting one. Continue reading Can the koel find another tree?
Meet the only eucalyptus species native to the northern hemisphere, the Mindanao Gum Tree or Rainbow Eucalyptus, so known for the vibrant colored patterns left by its peeling bark Continue reading In Rainbows – The Mindanao Gum Tree
Statistically, 35 people perished in the carnage essayed by Cyclone Thane. Yet, the obituaries that will never be written are of Pondicherry’s beautiful avenue trees, many of which we have celebrated on The Green Ogre. In the funereal streets of … Continue reading Shrieks of silence in Pondicherry’s treeless avenues
The late-blooming Red Cassia sets the avenue canopy aflame, flowering as it does when all colour is spent after the monsoon’s departure In early August I … Continue reading A Red Cassia in late flower
In flower the Cannonball Tree is lovely. But, by Toutatis, beware the skull-crushing quality of its menacing fruits Continue reading The Cannonball Tree, an explosion of beauty
May is just behind us, but the familiar trees that lend their signature flush to this month are still in riotous flower One reason I look forward to May, despite the sweltering heat it brings, is the blooming of Gulmohar (Delonix regia), often called ‘Mayflower’ locally. The tree is also known as Flamboyant and Royal Poinciana. The glory of red! All year, Gulmohar trees stay evergreen, providing ample shade with a thick canopy of branches that spread out in all directions like umbrellas. Though they do not grow very tall, their spreading canopies makes them ideal avenue trees. A variant … Continue reading Encounter: The darling buds of May
A fig tree in fruit is a forest in itself: every creature in the vicinity is attracted to the sprawling canopy to eat the ripe red fruits, or the fruit-eaters. Sadly, these lovely fig trees are disappearing with our appetite for wider roads Continue reading Tree or no tree, who gives a fig?
Wherever you go in the world, Mallus can be identified on Vishu’s eve as they strip Golden Shower trees bare of flowers! On that cheery note, Happy Vishu! Continue reading Indian Laburnum – the Vishu tree
For 20 years the mango tree that my father planted had stood its ground. It took less than 20 hours to bring it down. Continue reading Assassins in the Garden – Part 1
The Baobab trees of Pondicherry were lost in time and rediscovered in the 13-acre forest patch inside the now defunct Swadeshi Cotton Mill Complex Continue reading Encounter – Monsieur Baobab