V are ready with the Round-Up!

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V

Here's the round up for V

Verbascum Thapsus from Manisha Manisha sends us this weed she found on a camping trip on a cold day. Known as common mullein or great mullein, this weed can grow over 7 feet tall. A wet spring can result in leaves that are as long as 20 inches.

Wikipedia says that it has been used since ancient times as a remedy for skin, throat and breathing ailments. It has long had a medicinal reputation, especially as an astringent and emollient. It contains mucilage, several saponins, coumarin and glycosides. Dioscorides recommended it for diseases of the lung and it is nowadays widely available in health and herbal stores. Non-medical uses have included dyeing and making torches.

Vicia satvia from Shilpa
Shilpa found these growing on the sidewalk outside her home. Common vetch, as Vicia sativa is commonly called, is a weed that grows on roadsides and fields. It is a small plant with attractive purple-pink flowers from the pea family. The leaves are a lovely shade of green growing on stems that taper off into tendrils. The flowers bloom from April to August and are very attractive to bees and butterflies.

Vinca from Priya
Vinca, commonly known as Periwinkle or Madagascar Periwinkle is an ornamental plant. Vinca is a Latin word meaning "to bind". These flowers are annuals and their flowering time is from June to September. They love the sun and are drought resistant. The foliage is evergreen and glossy. They are ideal for borders and as container plants. The commonly found colors are white, pink, lavender and red. They are native to North America, China and India. Vinca has medicinal uses too and are used for lowering blood pressure and sugar levels.

Vinca Minor from Mythreyee
We have another picture of Vinca sent in by Mythreyee. She says, "This is a picture of a Periwinkle, popularly called Vinca Minor. I found these pretty flowers in my Apartment Complex."

Viola by Sree Sree sends this oil painiting of Viola. Violets or Viola from the Violaceae family also come in shades of cream, yellow or mix of blue and yellow.Some are sweet scented and others have a substance that can desensitize the nasal receptors. They grow well in wet and shaded regions and are common in the Northern Hemisphere. Some of these are called Pansies.

Violets by Mamatha

Mamatha, a first time participant at Flower Fest, sends us two pictures of Violets that she found in the Smoky Mountains. The first picture is that of a Sweet White Violet and the second one is called Canada Violet.

13 comments:

Indian Food Rocks

Thanks, Shilpa, for wonderful round-up!

Anonymous

Shilpa - Good round-up.

Jai and Bee and Manisha - Your entries are fascinating - such unusual flowers.

Shilpa - That pink in your Vicia is very eye-catching.

Mythreyee - We shared the same flower for this round and your photograph is lovely with streaks of light thrown in.

Shree - Beautiful colors and foliage.

shilpa

Manisha and N&M, thanks. I had fun doing it.

Mamatha

Nice round up. I sent 2 entries for V, looks like you didn't get them.

Mamatha

shilpa

Hi Mamatha, no, we have not received your mail, I just checked. Which mail id did you send it to? flowerfestival@gmail.com is the id. Please resend it and I will include your entries :)

Mamatha

Hi Shilpa,
Thats the email id I sent my entries to - it probably went to your spam folder. Have sent it again. Thanks.

shilpa

Mamatha, got your mail and your pictures are updated! Thanks!

bee

thanks shilpa for another roundup of great pix/paintings.

Indian Food Rocks

Mamatha, you did it! Congrats!! Now it's just a matter of time before you start your own blog. ;-) And, those violets look very dainty!

Ana Aman

I don't think the first picture is a Venus Dionaea. The venus looks like this.

Indian Food Rocks

Ana Aman, that's a very pretty Venus Fly Trap you have there! It would have made a wonderful entry for V.

We tried to ID the flower and could not find a Venus Fly Trap or a mutation that looked similar. We have since removed that entry. Thank you for being so diligent and bringing it to our notice.

bee

Thanks Manisha for bringing to our attention the error regarding the Venus Fly Trap. We have also removed the pic from our blog until I find out the real name. It is another carnivorous plant and by toutatis I'll bait it to appear!

Apologies to readers who were misled. But now, thanks to Ana Aman, the real VFT has surfaced in the Flower fest.

bee

the previous comment was from me and not bee - jai

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