Brahma Kamal Nature's Magical Clock

Five days to go for the full moon on 26th May 2021. And lo, a bud sprouts today in our Brahma Kamal plant in Secunderabad!

How does Nature achieve this magical synchronisation? Come full moon and Brahma Kamal (scientific name Epiphyllum oxypetalum)  blooms. It blooms at night. You may browse our earlier story Brahma Kamal- The Plant With Intelligence to see sequence of pictures taken through a night.

For those readers who have not seen this magical flower, a fully formed bud before it blooms looks like this.

And when it first sprouts from the edge of a leaf, it looks tiny and not as spectacular. See the picture below, taken this evening.

Finally, it blooms at night. Picture below.

What amazes us is the clockwork synchronisation by Nature. Full moon give or take a day or two- and the flowers bloom. The magic continues. Here is another picture of a bud against the full moon in January 2021.

Postscript 22nd May 2021: While watering the plant today, I noticed that it is not one but four buds which are forming. Here is a short 30-sec video clip showing how the plant produces the other buds keeping the harsh summer Sun away.

Am sharing two more pictures showing 3 + 1 bud on different branches, but all the buds get natural sun shade in scorching heat of Secunderabad summer.

Postscript 23 May 2021: Another reader who is a keen gardener and an author sent the comment: "After reading your post on the Brahma Kamal I went to check on mine. There was a bud! 😱Waiting for the 26th". Thanks much Shyamola.

Postscript 27th May: Ek aur एक और , yes there was one more bud making it a sixer! Four bloomed on 27th, Full Moon +1, the remaining two will bloom on 28th i.e. two days after the full moon. Two other neighbours also had one bloom each on 27th. So, the full moon synchronisation seems to apply well. It was an overcast sky, so couldn't take a picture with the moon. Here is one of the six blooms at night, taken from different angles without flash gun.

Hope we were able to take your mind off the Pandemic. Even if it was for a few minutes, we are happy. 

Relax and enjoy the Nature around you.

Stay safe and stay healthy.

    -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 21st May 2021

#BrahmaKamal #Flowers #MarvelsOfNature #MidnightBloom #PlantWithIntelligence #GhumakkadHarsh #GhumakkadHB #epiphyllumoxypetalum #queenofthenight #fullmoon #hownaturesynchronises #nature #secunderabad

Brahma Kamal Queen of the Night

Brahma Kamal ब्रह्म कमल 

Four years on dot.
Nature's magical calendar.
July 2015 to July 2019.
Full moon night and Brahma Kamal has bloomed again!

Ghumakkad is not repeating the earlier story. We have added four pictures taken today in our garden to highlight the magic of Brahma Kamal. It flowers once in a year and that too at night! How does it synchronise the blooming to a full moon night give or take a day? Read on.

End of postscript dated 16th July 2019.
___________________________________ 

The original story posted four years ago in July 2015.

A unique flower of the orchid cactus family which blooms at night.
Peculiarities of this flower shot in our garden in Secunderabad, India during July-- the monsoon month are as follows:

• Plant has long leaves, 12 to 24 inches long and about two inches wide with few longitudinal projections. Best planted in area getting filtered sunlight.

• Buds sprout from the edge of the leaves.

Tall slender leaves can be cut and planted in water to take root and then shifted to a pot.

• Buds take 7 days or so to grow and bloom.

• Blooming takes place in dark hours at night.
• The bloom lasts only one night.
• The lotus like petals open up fully around midnight and then fold up around sunrise. The flowers appear like a cross between multiple layers of petals as in a rose and conical shaped buds and flower as in a lotus.

• After blooming, the retracted buds hang lifelessly and wither away.

• Maximum number of blooms occur around full moon पूरणमाशी 
• Pollination is done by bats and moths which are attracted by the aroma of the flower.

Enjoy the beauty of Brahma Kamal from close range.

It is a native of Himalayas as well as Sri Lanka where it is called 'kaduphul'. It also grows in other parts of India. It is considered auspicious for the house where it grows.

Part of above research is by observation in our garden and the rest came from Indian Botanists site. Its botanical name is Epiphyllum oxypetallum.

Parting shot of a Brahma Kamal.



Thanks for browsing.

    Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 9th July 2015