Flowering Trees: Koelreuteria Paniculata (Goldenrain Tree), Lace-bark Tree (Lagetta lintearia), Lagunaria patersonii (Cow Itch Tree), Parkinsonia Aculeata (Jerusalem Thorn)

Summer Colours: Lemon Yellow, Purple and Pink

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Shakespeare. Sonnet 18

Koelreuteria paniculata var apiculata. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Under the Flowering Trees. Flame tree (Brachychiton Acerifolius), Date Palms (Phoenix dactylifera), Oleanders, Rosewood (Tipuana tipu), Parkinsonia aculeata (Jerusalem thorn), Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans), Purple Jacaranda, Albizia julibrissin (Persian silk, Pink silk tree), Pink Rose of Sharon, Bauhinia variegata (Camel's Foot Tree, Mountain-ebony), Silk floss tree (Palo borracho / Ceiba speciosa), Lace-bark tree (Lagetta lintearia), Lagunaria patersonii (cow itch tree), Purple Bougainvillea, Koelreuteria paniculata (Goldenrain tree), Lagerstroemia indica (Crape myrtle), European Redbud or Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum).

One of the most pleasant things you can do on a hot summer day is lie in a hammock or on the grass under the flowering trees scenting the air with their blossoms, enjoy their fragrance and watch the birds fly by high above in the sky.

Flame tree (Brachychiton Acerifolius) and Yellow-Legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
(© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Spring Treats. White Mulberry (Morus alba) fruits

Morus alba (family Moraceae), known as white mulberry, is a species native to northern China, and is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere.
It turns out that apart from being widely cultivated to feed the silkworms employed in the commercial production of silk, the plant has analgesic, emollient and sedative properties and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries as a remedy for surprisingly wide range of conditions: the fruit — to treat prematurely grey hair, constipation, diabetes, to "tonify" the blood; the bark — to treat cough, wheezing, edema, fever, headache, red dry and sore eyes, and to promote urination.
Extracts of the plant possess antibacterial and fungicidal properties. The root bark, for example, exhibits antibacterial activity against food poisoning micro-organisms, is antitussive, diuretic, expectorant and hypotensive. The roots are harvested in the winter and dried for later use.
The leaf extract has been studied against the Indian Vipera/Daboia russelii venom induced local and systemic effects. The leaves are antibacterial, astringent, diaphoretic (increasing perspiration), hypoglycaemic, odontalgic and ophthalmic, they are taken internally in the treatment of colds, influenza, eye infections and nosebleeds. The leaves are collected after the first frosts of autumn and can be used fresh but are generally dried.
The stems are anti-rheumatic, diuretic, hypotensive and pectoral. A tincture of the bark is used to relieve toothache. The branches are harvested in late spring or early summer and are dried for later use.
The fruit has a tonic effect on kidney energy and is used internally in the treatment of asthma, coughs, bronchitis, oedema, hypertension and diabetes.
Almost all parts of the plant are used in one way or another: recent research has shown improvements in elephantiasis when treated with leaf extract injections and in tetanus following oral doses of the sap mixed with sugar. Finally, it's not widely known that in some Central Asian countries a spirit (a kind of vodka or strong liquor) is distilled from mulberry fruits.
However, the fresh fruits are seldom available at the greengrocer's (probably due to their high perishability). So enjoy this wonder of Nature, even if just in pictures.

White Mulberry (Morus alba) fruit. (© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), aka Artichoke Thistle

The cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), aka artichoke thistle, cardone, cardoni, carduni or cardi, is a thistle-like plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the western and central Mediterranean region, where it was domesticated in ancient times. The wild cardoon is a spiny herbaceous perennial plant growing 0.8 to 1.5 m (31 to 59 in) tall, its flower buds can be eaten much as the artichoke (which is still very common in southern Italy and Sicily), and the stems are usually braised in cooking liquid.
Cardoon leaf stalks, which look like large celery stalks, can be served steamed or braised, and have an artichoke-like flavour.
Cardoons are used as vegetable rennet for cheese production, and has recently  been considered a possible source of biodiesel. The oil, extracted from the seeds of the cardoon, called artichoke oil, is very much like sunflower oil.

On top of this, cardoons are also grown as ornamental plants for their showy beauty.

Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), artichoke thistle flower
(© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and White Morning Glory (Ipomea)

I love capturing the play of light and shade on flowers, and convolvulus flowers provide rich chiaroscuro effects.

Convolvulus arvensis (Field Bindweed) is a species of bindweed, native to Europe and Asia. It is a climbing or creeping herbaceous perennial plant. Despite blooming by day, I find their violet colour to be quite nocturnal.

Convolvulus, Morning glory blue flower close-up
(© LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Autumn Treats. Delicious Organic Pomegranate

When I cut open this organic pomegranate, it turned out to be so beautiful that I couldn't resist the temptation to take some pictures as you don't come across such a magnificent deep cerise (reddish pink)-ariled specimen every day.

Open pomegranate. (© 2012 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)

Mirabilis Jalapa (Four O'Clock Plant)

As its name reflects (Mirabilis in Latin means wonderful, while Jalapa is a town in Mexico), Mirabilis Jalapa aka The four o'clock flower or marvel of Peru) is a fascinating plant and the most commonly grown ornamental species of Mirabilis. The flowers usually open in the late afternoon onwards, giving off a strong, sweet-smelling fragrance, hence the first of its common names. It's believed to have been exported from the Peruvian Andes in 1540.

What I especially love about these flowers is their random colouring — flowers of different colours can be found simultaneously on the same plant and an individual flower can be splashed with different colours as if God or an invisible painter had taken a brush and coloured the flowers at their whim with watercolour touches.

But the peculiarities don't end here, the most unusual trait being the plant's colour-changing phenomenon. For example, in the yellow variety, as the plant matures, it can display flowers that gradually change to a dark pink colour. Similarly white flowers can change to light violet. The plant creates a wide range of 'Broken Colours': from all sorts of combinations of yellow, white, purple, deep pink or red petals to watered down purple, red or yellow flowers stippled with yellow, white or purple.

Yet another curious aspect of this plant is that, when red-flowered plants are crossed with white-flowered plants, pink-flowered offspring, not red, are produced. Similarly, when yellow-flowered plants are crossed with red or purple-flowered plants the offspring are pale orange-flowered. This is an exception to Mendel's Law of Dominance, because in this case the red, yellow and white genes are of equal strength, so none completely dominates the other. The phenomenon is known as incomplete dominance.

Moreover, the plant isn't just a pretty face — an edible crimson dye obtained from the flowers is used in food colouring. The leaves may be eaten cooked as well, although only as an emergency food.

It also has medicinal properties — parts of the plant may be used as a diuretic, purgative, and for vulnerary (wound healing) purposes (leaf juice may be used to treat wounds). The leaves are also used to reduce inflammation and decoction of them (mashing and boiling) is used to treat abscesses. The root is believed an aphrodisiac, as well as diuretic and purgative.

The only downside is that each individual flower blooms for just a day (an afternoon, to put it more exactly), lasts all night and then wilts.
Anyway, enjoy their beauty.

Mirabilis jalapa (The four o'clock flower), yellow pink purple
(© 2012 LightColourShade. All rights reserved)