In praise of the colour orange

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from the Icelandic name of the bird, rita, whereas the English name was given in allusion to its call. The specific name is from the Greek tridaktylos (‘three toes’), referring to the fact that this species is missing the small, back-pointing fourth toe, which most other gull species possess.

In North America, this species is called black-legged kittiwake to differentiate it from its near relative, the red-legged kittiwake (Rissa brevirostris), which breeds on small islands in the far northern Pacific.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The common name stems from its brilliantly orange, cup-shaped ascocarps, which often resemble orange peels, strewn on the ground. The specific name was applied in 1800 by mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1761-1836), who was born in South Africa, but moved to Europe in his twenties. It is Latin, meaning ‘orange’ or ‘golden’, originally from the Arabic naranj and Ancient Persian narang, the name of the citrus fruit, which is today called orange in English (see Citrus x sinensis elsewhere on this page).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may reach a total length of 14 cm, and some individuals are known to live for 15 years. Adults are greenish, sometimes brownish or yellowish, whereas juveniles are bright orange, called red efts. Both adults and juveniles have spots on the body. This species produces a neurotoxin named tetrodotoxin, which makes it unpalatable to fish and crayfish.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘greenish’, referring to the colour of most adults.

 

 

 

 

 

On April 2, 1949, a glass, containing water and duckweed, was standing outside the door of the biology classroom. Agnete Bisgaard immediately became curious and examined the content. To her great surprise, she was soon standing with a specimen of the alpine newt in her hand. The very same day, a packet, containing 3 alpine newts and some humid moss, was sent to the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen.

The following day, Agnete Bisgaard was informed that the identification was correct, and a new amphibian was added to the Danish list. The find was published in major newspapers, showing pictures of the 12-year-old school boy and the alpine newt.

Due to the initiative of professor Ragnar Spärck, the species was protected, and the statement said that “(…) the animal is protected in Denmark, and collecting it must only take place for scientific purposes, and with the proper permission from the Nature Conservation Council. Violation will be punished with a fine. (…) State Ministery, July 12, 1951.” (Source: bjergsalamander.dk/index.php/bjergsalamandergruppen/historie)

 

 

 

 

 

Incidentally, the name of the colour orange stems from the fruit – not the other way around. Before the introduction of the fruit, there was no expression for the colour orange, which was termed yellow or red. The name of the fruit was adopted from the Old French orange, which, in turn, was lent from the Italian arancia that was based on Arabic naranj, which was derived from the Sanskrit word for the fruit, naranga.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kumquat originated in southern China. It was mentioned in Chinese literature at least as far back as the 12th Century. In Cantonese, it is called 金橘 (gam gwat), from gam (‘golden’) and gwat (‘orange’). In English, this was corrupted to kumquat or cumquat.

Today, it is widely cultivated in warmer areas of Asia.

 

 

 

 

 

The broad-headed skink was so named because of its wide jaws, giving the head a triangular appearance. The adult male is brownish, with a bright orange head in the mating season. The female has five light stripes running down the back and tail, similar to the five-lined skink.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name commemorates Dutch botanist and physician Sebald Justinus Brugmans (1763-1819), who is especially remembered for his expertise in the treatment of gangrene. The common name alludes to the trumpet-shaped flowers, which, however, are very poisonous, hence Angel’s, presumably the Death Angel.

Brugmansia suaveolens is a shrub to 5 m tall, often many-branched. Leaves are ovate or oblong, to 30 cm long and 15 cm wide, margin entire, tip pointed. Flowers are funnel-shaped, very fragrant at night, to 30 cm long, calyx green, inflated, to 12 cm long, with 5 elliptic lobes, corolla usually white with green base, tip with 5 spreading, pointed lobes. Some forms have yellow, orange, or pink flowers. It is native to Brazil, but is widely cultivated elsewhere due to the splendid flowers.

The specific name is derived from the Latin suavis (‘sweet’) and olens (‘fragrance’).

 

 

 

 

 

This plant grows on mountain slopes, along rivers, and in forests and grasslands, from the lowlands up to an altitude of c. 2,600 m. Its berries, which may be black, red, or orange, are edible, as are the flowers, and other parts of the plant are widely used in herbal medicine.

Other species of elder are described elsewhere on this website, common elder (S. nigra) on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry, blue elder (S. cerulea), sometimes called Mexican elder (S. mexicana), on the page Plants: Plants of Sierra Nevada, and red elder (S. racemosa) on the page Plants: Plants of the Alps and the Pyrenees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has an erect or ascending stem, sometimes more than 1 m long, with numerous aerial roots, leaves to 8 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, inflorescence in a dense terminal umbel-like cluster, 25 to 60 cm long, flowers to 2.5 cm long, bright orange-red with a yellow, deeply 3-lobed lip. The shape of the flower gave rise to the common name crucifix orchid.

 

 

 

 

 

Previously, toads in the Caucasus were thought to be this species, but they have now been upgraded to a separate species, Bufo verrucosissimus.

The scientific name is the classical Latin term for toads.

 

 

 

 

 

It was previously placed in the genus Bufo, and some authorities still regard Anaxyrus as a subgenus of that genus.

 

 

 

 

 

It grows in arctic, subarctic, and temperate regions, southwards to southern Canada, Germany, Mongolia, and Japan.

 

 

 

 

 

An alternative scientific name is R. calycinoides, meaning ‘like calycinus’, alluding to the likeness of the leaves to those of R. calycinus, which is distributed from the Himalaya eastwards to northern Indochina and south-western China.

 

 

 

 

 

The leaves were used medicinally by Native Americans. In modern herbal medicine, it is regarded as a mild sedative and relaxant, suitable for children. It improves sleep quality and can prevent nightmares. It is also taken for hyper-activity, headache, migraine, depression, and nerve pain.

The seeds are used in cooking. Formerly, the pollen was utilized cosmetically by Native Americans.

In 1903, California poppy became the official state flower of California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In former times, the burning boat was pushed out to sea, ceremonially carrying the diseases away, but in later years this practice was abandoned, and the boat was burned on land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species is presented in depth on the page Plants: Ancient and huge trees.

 

 

 

 

 

This shrub, which is a member of the mallow family (Malvaceae), thrives on alkaline soil, sandy as well as clayey, up to an altitude of about 2,500 m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Columnea purpurata is a shrubby herb, to 2 m long, growing on rocks or as an epiphyte. The stem and leaves are covered in white hairs, leaves often large, lanceolate, to 37 cm long and 11 cm wide. Inflorescences are dense, clustered along the stem, bracts and calyx bright orange, fuzzy, turning purple when drying (hence the specific name), corolla yellow, tubular, to 3 cm long, densely hairy.

The native range of this plant is from extreme southern Mexico through Central America to Colombia. It is used medicinally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This palm is believed to have originated in the Philippines, but is widely cultivated elsewhere in tropical and subtropical areas of Asia, in New Guinea, in the West Indies, and on many Pacific Ocean islands.

Its nut, called betel nut, is an ingredient in betel, a mild intoxicant, consisting of a leaf from the betel bush (Piper betle), which is wrapped around bits of areca nut and, according to your taste, tobacco or spices, taken with a small amount of lime. Chewing this mixture increases your spit production, and your saliva turns brick-red. Blotches of betel spit are ubiquitous in many Asian countries – on streets, house walls, stairs, and elsewhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is of unknown origin, possibly derived from the Latin sol (’sun’) referring to the fact that plants of this genus prefer to grow in sunny places.

Fruits of these plants may be red, orange, yellow, or black. Two species with orange fruits are described below, whereas others are presented on the pages In praise of the colour red, and Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name, meaning ‘the false capsicum’, refers to the leaves, which resemble those of green pepper (Capsicum).

The common name Jerusalem cherry is a misnomer, as the plant does not bear cherries, and it is not native to the area around Jerusalem. The name may simply stem from some gardener, who brought back the plant from Jerusalem and attached the name to the plant without researching its true native area. (Source: m.wisegeek.com)

Another common name, Madeira winter cherry, stems from the time when Portuguese sailors brought the plant from South America to Madeira. From here, it was introduced to Europe, where it became a status symbol among the upper classes.

 

 

 

 

 

This species has a rather limited distribution, found in southern New Mexico and western Texas, and in the Mexican states Chihuahua and Coahuila. It is common in parts of the Chihuahuan Desert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species has countless medicinal usages, and is also utilized for many other purposes, described on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is an evergreen perennial, native to the Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was first described in 1788 by the famous English naturalist Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), who gave it the specific name reginae, which means ‘of the queen’, in honour of the British queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, also known as Sophia Charlotte (1744-1818), the wife of King George III.

The plant grows to 2 m tall, with leaves to 70 cm long and 30 cm wide, with stalks to 1 m long. They are arranged in two ranks, forming a fan-shaped crown. Due to its beautiful flowers, it is very popular as an ornamental plant and is cultivated in hot countries around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common sea-buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides) is found from Ireland and southern Scandinavia southwards to the Mediterranean, eastwards through Russia to Xinjiang and Mongolia, and thence southwards to Pakistan and Ladakh, north-western Himalaya.

 

 

 

 

 

The peacock pansy (Junonia almana) was named due to its large, bluish ‘peacock eyes’ on the orange wings. This species is distributed from India and Sri Lanka eastwards to China, Taiwan, and Japan, and thence southwards to the Indonesian Archipelago and the Philippines. It is very common, living in a wide variety of habitats up to an altitude of about 500 m, occasionally up to 1,000 m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The native range of this species is from Pakistan eastwards across the Himalaya to Southeast Asia, southern China, Taiwan, and Japan. In the Himalaya, it grows between 1,000 and 2,700 metres altitude, but elsewhere it may be found down to sea level.

It is widely cultivated due to its pretty flowers and gorgeous blue berries, which are eagerly sought out by birds. It has become naturalized in some places, including the United States, where it has been declared an invasive species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several pictures, depicting this bird, may be seen on the pages Animals – Birds: Birds in Taiwan, and Animals: Urban animal life.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name, derived from Ancient Greek leirion (‘lily’) and dendron (‘tree’), the specific name, derived from tulip and the Latin fer (‘bearing’), as well as the common name tulip tree, all refer to the large flowers, which superficially resemble lilies or tulips. The popular name fiddle-tree refers to the peculiar shape of the leaves, which sometimes resemble small violins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The common name refers to the resin, which is extracted from it.

 

 

 

 

 

This species is utilized for countless purposes. Oil from the nuts, and also dried copra, is used for cooking and in lamps. Mats, weaved from the leaves, are used as walls and roofs in houses, and mats and rope are produced from the fibres in the husk. Charcoal is made from the shells, and the trunk is utilized as timber and firewood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The genus was named by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) in honour of a friend, merchant Magnus von Lagerström (1696-1759), who was director of the Swedish East India Company. Lagerström was a keen naturalist, and, despite never visiting Asia, he was able to procure many specimens from India and China, which he presented to Linnaeus. (Source: E. Bretschneider 1898. History of European Botanical Discoveries in China)

Chinese crepe-myrtle (Lagerstroemia subcostata) is a smallish tree, to 14 m tall, with a characteristic smooth and pale bark, which makes you think that the tree is dead. Leaves short-stalked, oblong or ovate, to 4.8 cm long and 2.5 cm broad, pointed. Flowers purple or white in hairy terminal panicles to 15 cm across, petals 6, to 6 mm long, wrinkled. The fruit is an ellipsoid capsule, to 8 mm long.

It is native to Japan, Taiwan, China, and the Philippines, growing in forests and along streams, from low to medium elevations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other common names of this plant include pigeon berry and Brazilian skyflower, and in Tonga it is known as mavaetangi (‘tears of departure’), alluding to the fruit, which is a small, globose, yellow or orange berry, to 1 cm across. Unripe berries are toxic and are known to have killed children, dogs and cats. Birds, however, are not harmed by the berries.

The generic name was given in honour of Italian physician, botanist, and poet Gualdo Tadino (1529-1590), better known as Castore Durante da Gualdo.

A picture, depicting the flowers, is shown on the page In praise of the colour blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Kew Bulletin (1897), this species has insecticidal properties, being especially obnoxious to fleas. Infected rooms are thoroughly swept with brooms, made from this plant, and the pests are said to disappear. Its medicinal usage is described on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry.

In his delightful book All about Weeds, American botanist Edwin Spencer (1881-1964) writes about pollination of milkweeds:

“(…) they have one of the most distinct flowers of the plant kingdom. It is made for the purpose of tricking insects in order that cross fertilization may be assured. (…) insects attempting to get nectar from the cups in the flower. There are five of these cups on each flower, and they usually are found hanging mouth downward. They are very smooth, and a foot of the insect that tries to alight on one of them invariably slips off and lands on the slit, which lies between two of the cups. This is exactly what should happen; the very purpose for which the flower was made. In that slit lies the male principle of the flower in such a position that it may never come in contact with the female organ, unless it is pulled out and pulled in again. So the foot of the insect goes into the slit and finds itself caught as if between two tough little wires. If the insect is strong enough, a jerk or two will bring out the foot, and along with it two little bags of pollen, which ride away on the insect’s leg to another flower, where the foot again slips into a slit, but this time carrying the pollen bags (…) right down upon the stigmatic surface of the female organ. There the bags stay, and the pollen in them develops as it should (…). Of course, that same insect leg may come out of the second flower slit with two more bags of pollinia hanging to it like two little saddle bags. (…) it takes a strong leg to do this work, and strong insects are sometimes seen with several bags of pollinia hanging to their legs. If the insect is not strong enough, he pays dearly for the sip of nectar he gets. (…) if he cannot pay for that nectar by carrying away to another flower those two little pollinia bags, he hangs there until he dies (…).”

 

 

 

 

 

Like most of the 14 species in this genus, the Daurian redstart is strongly sexually dimorphic, the female being pale brown with an orange-red tail. Like the male, however, it has a prominent white wing-patch.

It breeds in south-eastern Siberia, from Lake Baikal eastwards to Amurland, Ussuriland, and Sakhalin, and in Mongolia, Tibet, most of China, and northern Korea, wintering in southern China, Japan, Taiwan, north-eastern India, and Southeast Asia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other pictures, depicting these lilies, may be studied on the page Quotes on nature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The native area of this plant is thought to be southern Mexico or Central America, but as it has been cultivated in this area for thousands of years, it is a matter of speculation. Today, it is cultivated in numerous countries with a tropical or subtropical climate.

The generic name is the feminine form of the adjective Caricus, a shortening of Caria and ficus (‘fig’), thus ‘the fig from Caria’, in Ancient Greek Karia, a Greek province in present-day south-western Turkey. This name was applied by Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) in 1753, perhaps referring to the sweet taste of the fruit.

The specific name is the name of the plant in an Arawak language, which was adopted by the Spaniards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several of the species are very colourful, the males displaying a predominantly bright red plumage, the females predominantly a yellow plumage.

The brilliantly coloured orange minivet (P. flammeus) lives in dense forests, from western India and Sri Lanka eastwards to southern China, and thence southwards through Southeast Asia to Indonesia. Formerly, this species was regarded as a subspecies of the scarlet minivet, which is now called P. speciosus.

Other species of minivet are described on the pages Animals – Birds: Birds in Taiwan, and Animals – Birds: Birds in Bagan.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek dios (Zeus) and pyros (‘wheat’), thus ‘Zeus’s wheat’, in a broader context translated as ‘divine food’. It alludes to the fruit of the Caucasian persimmon (D. lotus). The word persimmon stems from pichamins (‘dried fruit’), the Powhatan word for an American species of the genus.

The oriental persimmon (D. kaki), which has a sweet, slightly tangy fruit, is native to southern China, Taiwan, northern Vietnam, and Assam in north-eastern India. It was first cultivated in China more than 2,000 years ago, and cultivation spread to Japan in the 7th Century, to Korea in the 14th Century, and to southern Europe, California, and Brazil in the 19th Century.

Kaki is the Japanese name of this species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pretty plant has been introduced to a number of other countries, including England, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. However, it easily escapes and often becomes invasive, and in the latter two countries, import of the plant is prohibited.

In England, it has a number of peculiar common names, including fox-and-cubs, Devil’s paintbrush, and Grim the Collier. The name fox-and-cubs refers to the fact that the flowerheads on a plant do not all open at the same time. An open flowerhead is likened to a fox, whereas the still closed flowerheads on either side of it are the cubs. The name Devil’s paintbrush probably alludes to the numerous black hairs on the involucre (the leaves surrounding the flowerhead).

The name Grim the Collier takes some explanation. It was first mentioned in connection with the plant, in the form Grimme the Collier, by herbalist John Gerard (c. 1545-1612) in his Herball from 1597. The name appears in a play from about 1564, Damon and Pythias, by Richard Edwardes, which was performed for Queen Elizabeth I. One of the characters in this play is Grim the Collier (‘Grim the coal miner’), who was described as being “of a right Croydon sanguine” – a term applied to persons with auburn hair and tawny skin. The name of course refers to the orange or red flowerheads, and to the black hairs on the involucre, which are likened to the coal dust in a miner’s beard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When he described it in 1781, Austrian naturalist Franz Xaver von Wulfen (1728-1805) noted that it differed from the true chanterelles. Research has shown that it is not even distantly related to them, and it is now placed in a separate family, Hygrophoropsidaceae.

It is widely distributed across the Northern Hemisphere, being very common in coniferous forests, but may also grow in deciduous forests and heathland. Research indicates that it may constitute several species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from the Greek pyro (‘fire’) and stegia (‘cover’), the former referring to the flower colour, the latter to its vigorous climbing habit, as it will often cover entire buildings. The specific name stems from Ancient Italian wenostos (‘beautiful’).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common orange lichen (X. parietina), also known as yellow scale or shore lichen, has a very wide distribution, found in most of Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America. As it is one of the few lichens, which is favoured by eutrophication, it is very common on rocks, large trees, roofs, walls, etc.

The specific name, from the Latin paries (‘wall’), was applied by Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) in 1753.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite its bright orange breast, the original English name of the bird was redbreast. Orange, as a colour name, was unknown in English until the introduction of oranges in the 16th Century. Before that, there was no expression for the colour orange, which was termed yellow or red. The name of the fruit was adopted from the Old French orange, which, in turn, was lent from the Italian arancia that was based on Arabic naranj, which was derived from the Sanskrit word for the fruit, naranga.

In the 15th Century it became popular to give human names to familiar species, and the bird came to be known as robin redbreast, which was eventually shortened to robin. (Source: D. Lack 1950. Robin Redbreast. Clarendon Press, Oxford).

Robins on the Canarian Islands Gran Canaria and Tenerife are quite distinct by having a smaller, more reddish patch on the breast, a white eye-ring, and greyish rather than brownish upperparts. Their song is also different, somewhat like the song of song thrush (Turdus philomelos). They may constitute a separate species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This plant is native to the American tropics, but due to its pretty flowers it has been introduced almost worldwide. In warmer countries, it often escapes, and as it is toxic to grazing animals, it often forms large thickets, out-competing natural vegetation.

Two of the colour forms of this plant, red and yellow, gave rise to the popular name Spanish flag, due to the similarity of these colours to the ones in the Spanish national flag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The male golden palm weaver (Ploceus bojeri) is bright yellow with an orange head. This bird has a rather restricted distribution, found in extreme southern Ethiopia, southern Somalia, and eastern Kenya. It lives in savanna, preferably along rivers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A picture, depicting blue waterlily (N. caerulea) is shown on the page In praise of the colour blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The name weaver ant stems from their nest, which is made by ‘weaving’ together leaves, using larval silk. A colony of these ants may include several nests in a single tree, or the nests may be spread over several adjacent trees. In one instance, a colony occupied 151 nests, distributed among 12 trees. A colony may count up to half a million individuals. Each colony has a single queen in one nest, from which her progeny is carried to other nests. (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oecophylla_smaragdina, with a list of references)

 

 

 

 

 

The inflorescences are whorls of pretty, orange flowers, arranged up the stem, which may grow to 3 m tall. Occasionally, plants with red, white, or purple flowers may be encountered.

In Trinidad, the leaves are brewed as tea for treatment of fever, coughs, womb prolapse, and malaria.

The pictures below were taken in Bagan, Myanmar. A Buddhist pagoda is seen as a silhouette in one of the pictures, and the bird in the upper picture is a male purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus), sucking nectar from the flowers. Other pictures, depicting this bird, are presented on the page Animals – Birds: Birds in Bagan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This species is distributed in the major part of Europe and temperate parts of Asia, eastwards to Japan. Its larvae feed on leaves of various members of the cabbage family (Brassicaceae), preferably cuckoo-flower (Cardamine pratensis) and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata).

 

 

 

 

 

In my opinion, the most beautiful member of this genus is golden hawk’s-beard (C. aurea), which is distributed in European mountains, in the Jura, the Alps, the Apennines, the Abruzzos, and on the Balkans, and it is also found in Asia Minor. In the Alps, it grows in meadows and pastures, preferably on acid soils, at altitudes between 1,000 and 2,900 m.

 

 

 

 

 

Ganesh and other Hindu gods are presented in depth on the page Religion: Hinduism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common bird’s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) is widely distributed in Temperate Eurasia, growing in drier habitats with low vegetation. In the Himalaya, it is found between 1,500 and 4,000 m altitude, from Pakistan east to central Nepal.

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is from the Greek geo (‘ground’) and kikhle (‘thrush’), referring to the almost exclusively ground-feeding habit of these birds.

Altogether 11 subspecies of the pretty orange-headed ground-thrush (Geokichla citrina) are distributed along the Himalaya, in eastern and Southern India, on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in Indochina, southern and eastern China, and northern Borneo, and on Java and Bali. It is resident in the major part of this huge area, but some northern populations are migratory, spending the winter in north-eastern and southern India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, and southern China.

Subspecies cyanota of southern India is very distinct, having a white face with two vertical black streaks below and behind the eye. It has been suggested that it forms a separate species, but intermediate forms occur where its range overlaps with that of nominate citrina.

 

 

 

 

 

The fruit is large, green, splitting lengthwise and revealing two rows of seeds, covered in a bright orange, fleshy layer. It yields a large amount of white latex (hence its common name). This latex is sometimes used to adulterate chicle, and locally it is chewed as a substitute for chewing gum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name was given in allusion to its leaves, which resemble leaves of linden species (Tilia). A picture, depicting the gorgeous yellow flowers, is shown on the page In praise of the colour yellow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The red horned poppy (G. corniculatum) occurs from southern Europe eastwards to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, southwards to northern Africa, Arabia, and Iran, and also in Australia, Madeira, and the Canary Islands. Its flower colour varies from dark red to dark orange.

Glaucium leiocarpum is quite similar to G. corniculatum, but the petals are yellow towards the tip and red towards the base, often with dark spots near the base. It is distributed in Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, growing in stony areas.

Many more poppy species are described on the pages In praise of the colour red, Plants: Himalayan flora 2, and Plants: Flora in Turkey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Ancient Greek mythology, Acraea was the daughter of the river-god Asterion. Together with her sisters Euboea and Prosymna, she acted as nurse to goddess Hera.

It is much debated, whether the tawny coster should be named Acraea terpsicore or A. violae, but today most authorities accept terpsicore as the correct name. Originally, this species was restricted to the Indian Subcontinent, but spread to Indochina during the 1990s and to Malaysia and Indonesia in the 2000s. During a tropical storm in 2017, many specimens were blown to the north-eastern coast of Australia, and since then it has spread to much of northern Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

The Chinese screw palm (Pandanus tectorius), formerly known as P. odoratissimus var. sinensis, is a small tree, to 10 m tall, distinguished by its numerous spiny leaves, which may grow to 1.8 m long. it is distributed along seashores, from eastern China and Taiwan southwards through Southeast Asia to northern Australia and many Pacific islands. It is sometimes planted as a living fence, and the leaves are used for weaving.