A Once In 100 Years Bloom

It's interesting how somethings acquire value based on sheer rarity (yep.....diamonds for sure :). One such is the Talipot Palm, which blooms once in a hundred years...... and it's now in bloom in Lalbagh.

This picture is courtesy The Hindu. 

                      

 and here's some excerpts from their article:

“This is the best natural gift for the Republic Day from Lalbagh. The rarity is in seeing three of them flowering concurrently as they bloom only once in a lifetime of 60 to 100 years, said M. Jagadeesh, Joint Director, Horticulture, Parks and Gardens, urging people to catch a glimpse of the trio-in-bloom spectacle, during the show. 

The talipot palms rise to a height of nearly 30 metres and have a girth of 2.5 metres. We should be grateful to the botanist trained in Kew gardens in London John Cameron — superintendent of Lalbagh who took over in 1874 and established the Glass House — who planted two palms initially, Seed dispersal led to their sprouting. We have been vigilant in seeing them grow as scientists have categorised them as ‘threatened species’, said Mr. Jagadeesh. 

The fronds of talipot palm have been historically used in India and Sri Lanka for writing manuscripts, according to Mr. Jagadeesh."

A thought which stood out for me; the palm was in spectacular bloom, over and above the heads of all other trees and plants in the vicinity.......blooming just for it's own joy and glory. And if we spotted it, it's only because of the article and the effort at seeking it out. 

And it so happened that it was a special day at Lalbagh, the very popular Republic Day flower show, yet another spectacular display, and that was display for the public, and was attracting all the public attention. Both as real......Both as significant........ Both as beautiful.

Girija, thanks much for having spotted the article in The Hindu, and what's more, actually come to do the walk with me yesterday, an almost as rare occurrence :)