Dear All and Mr. Bhatt... not so fast, ha ha... I'll add to your confusion (and mine)... The so called real Brahma Kamal *Saussurea obvallata* is only one of the pictures in the flicker group labeled as Brahma Kamal.... The rest of the pictures in the flicker group are a plants group that I know of as NITE BLOMMING CEREUS.... One of which is *Epiphyllum oxypetalum*..I had one growing in my apartment, dining room table in NY, from a cutting from THE HIMALAYAN INSTITUTE in Pennsylvania... where it apparently had some spiritual meaning to the core group of devotees of Swami Rama, who would stay up thru the nite when one bud was about ready to open, being a full moon nite in summer (its bat pollinated, and being white it is best to open during a bright nite , I guess)...they did not call it Brahma Kamal though.. and this is the one found in Southern Indian states and called there..brahma kamal.. and is photographed the most and published in the flicker group ....
Other nite blooming cereus I have seen in botanical gardens is the one called Hylocereus undatus (Red Pitaya or dragon fruit) ..very similar flowers but stems are different and growing habits etc and seeds are different sizes and numbers in fruits of *epiphyllum oxypetalum*. There are several other plants with similar flowers which bloom at nite... and are called nite blooming cereus...wikipedia has a short list at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightblooming_cereus#cite_note-2. And I QUOTE FROM IT "(( Night-blooming cereus, also called Queen of the night or Reina de la noche, are names of several genera and species of nightblooming cactus, including: * Echinopsis, e.g. E. pachanoi (San Pedro Cactus) * Epiphyllum, e.g. E. oxypetalum (Dutchman's Pipe Cactus) * Hylocereus, e.g. H. undatus (Red Pitaya or dragon fruit) * Peniocereus, e.g. P. greggii (Arizona Queen-of-the-night) * Selenicereus, e.g. S. grandiflorus (Vanilla Cactus), probably the most famous))" END QUOTE .. Sorry to do this but it had me confused for a long time in 1991 ...when I first acquired the cutting and did not have wikipedia then... had to impose on the librarians at the NY botanical garden... who helped a great deal... This also goes to show us (me) that just like many regions of the world call different plants nite blooming cereus, two regions in India call different plants Brahma Kamal... To add to the confusion *Saussurea obvallata* is often called STHALAPADMINI (by Kalidasa) or STHALAPADMA in sanskrit ... And here in Calcutta, West Bengal *Hibiscus mutabilis* is called sthalpadma or sthalopoddo as it is pronounced locally, there are several growing in gardens in my neighborhood... Regards, Ushadi On Apr 8, 6:02 pm, Anand Kumar Bhatt <[email protected]> wrote: > Thank you Tabish, Pankaj and Mahadeshwara. The confusion is over. > ak > > > > On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 5:26 PM, Mahadeswara <[email protected]> wrote: > > In Souther india Epiphyllum oxypetalum is regarded as the Brahma > > kamal, though Saussurea obvallata is supposed to be the real brahma > > kamal. I have one in my house, which would flower during the hot > > summer (mostly May) during night. > > > On Apr 8, 3:39 am, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> wrote: > > > There is a slok in sanskrit which says, offering a single brahmakamal > > > to god is equivalent to offering 1000 flowers. I am eagerly waiting > > > for someone to share this slok as it is planned to be a part of one of > > > our articles on this plant. This is referred to Saussurea obvallata > > > which is highly fragrant. You can smell it from a distance. Even the > > > leaves have smell and it is found on higher altitudes. > > > These pictures were taken on the other side of Hemkunt lake (which is > > > a forbidden zone for tourists). In the third pic on the backgroun id > > > the lake and the famous Sikh pilgrim place called Hemkunt Sahib. > > > In the link provided by Bhatt sir, there is infact one Saussurea > > > obvallata rest are cactus, Epiphyllum oxypetalum. > > > Regards > > > Pankaj > > > > -- > > > *********************************************** > > > "TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!" > > > > Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) > > > Research Associate > > > Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project > > > Department of Habitat Ecology > > > Wildlife Institute of India > > > Post Box # 18 > > > Dehradun - 248001, India > > > > -- > > > *********************************************** > > > "TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!" > > > > Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) > > > Research Associate > > > Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project > > > Department of Habitat Ecology > > > Wildlife Institute of India > > > Post Box # 18 > > > Dehradun - 248001, India > > > > Slide101.JPG > > > 1187KViewDownload > > > > Slide102.JPG > > > 726KViewDownload > > > > Slide103.JPG > > > 598KViewDownload > > -- > Anand Kumar Bhatt > A-59, B.S.F.Colony, Airport Road > Gwalior. 474 005. > Tele: 0751-247 2233. Mobile 0 94253 09780. > My blogsite is at:http://anandkbhatt.blogspot.com > (A NEW BLOG has been ADDED ON 15 March 2011.) > And the photo site:www.flickr.com/photos/akbhatt/ > <http://www.flickr.com/photos/akbhatt/>(NEW PHOTOS HAVE BEEN ADDED ON 11 > March 2011.) > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Ten most common surnames of Indians: Singh, Kumar, Sharma, Patel, Shah, > Lal, Gupta, Bhat, Rao, Reddy. Cheers!
