Tuesday, August 18, 2009

'Yaka mala' - A black flower, Home garden, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

This flowering plant was called a 'Yaka mala' in Sinhalese (Devil flower). It was also said to resemble a lion's head. I bought a plant at a flower show in Colombo. It bloomed in our home garden, to produce this flower, all black in colour..

Rambuttan fruits on the tree, Avissawella, Sri Lanka.

It is the end of the 'rambuttan' season now. Each fruit sells for about Rs.3/- at the roadside vending stalls. There are quite a lot of rambuttan estates around Avissawella. Trees are rented out for Rs50,000/ to a lakh during the season. The bats and birds have a field day picking the fruits. People tie a transistor radio to the tree at full blast, to scare away the bats at night. The newer generation of bats, seem to appreciate the music especially the 'rap', according to what I hear. We would go to one of these estates and buy the fruits at Rs.2/- each, straight from the tree.