Hardy climber

WHEN people pass by my front door, they often stop to look at a flower-laden creeper next to the entrance. Called the Golden- trumpet or Allamanda, (Allamanda Cathartica, family Apocynaceac) one of the most popular garden shrubs. Reaching a considerable height, it is usually laden with flowers - more so in the rainy season — almost all the year round.

Originally from America, the Golden Trumpet is a forest climber in its wild state, but can also be trained as a bush and is often grown in this fashion in gardens in the tropics. It will only thrive outdoors in warm climes, but makes a good hot-house plant also. It belongs to the same family as the periwinkle, the oleander, and the famous frangipani tree, grown in many parts of the world for its strong perfume. (Some of the South American members of the family contain powerful and dangerous drugs which Indian tribes use to make poison coated arrows.)

The leaves grow either in pairs, or in groups of fours, along round and smooth, green branches which turn ashy brown with age. The narrow and pointed leaves, with virtually no stem, are dark, glossy green above but much paler underneath.

The flowers do not grow from the ends of the branches but from short-stemmed side shoots on which one or two buds generally bloom at the same time out of upto four "mature" buds; the buds are a blend of bronze and lime green, twisted to a conical point. Each bloom consists of a loose calyx dividing into five sepals and a funnel-shaped corolla which emerges as a slim cylinder, then bellies out and opens into five broad petals, rounded at the outer edges. In the inside of the flower, the throat is marked with fine deep orange veins. A well-grown plant will bear flowers of 3.5 inches in diameter. When blooming in profusion, the plant is a beauty with large yellow flowers against a deep green backdrop. It likes sunny spots and a well-drained soil liberally fed with manure. It is propagated from cuttings, and needs very little care.

Text and pictures by JYOTIRMOY BANERJEE

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