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Sunday, August 31, 2008

100 Species Challenge (6-9)



I'm participating in the 100 Species Challenge started by Sarah Sours. You can read the previous entry here.

VoilĂ  my growing list:
1. Shy grass
2. Lantana
3. Creeping fig
4. Ginger lily
5. Asian sword fern

This week, I'm adding four, starting with:

6. Hibiscus



We call it gumamela. In other places it's called rosemallow. In elementary school, we always used hibiscus to study the different parts of a flower (it's easy to spot its different parts I suppose). The plant grows pretty tall and can be used as a border or a natural fence. The flowers come in all sorts of colors. We also have the peach one, but I didn't see a bloom, so this one will do. Apparently, they make teas, jams, and other edible goodies from hibiscus, but as a kid, I mostly used the leaves and flowers to make homemade bubbles. Something about them make the soap extra thick or sticky, so we used to pound them and then mix them with regular soapy water. We twisted wires to make a bubble wand (though we also sometimes used papaya stalk sort of like a straw).

7. Bougainvillea



We call it the same thing in Filipino, but in a tagalized manner (something like bo-gan'vil-ya) Practically every house here has bougainvillea growing either on the ground or in a pot. It's woody and creeps upwards, so many use it to frame structures. People also like to plant it by the fence probably because it's thorny and can scratch up a careless burglar.:) The flowers come in many shades.

8. Quisqualis indica



We (at least my household) mistakenly refer to it as the "yesterday-today-tomorrow" plant, but it seems it's common name is either Chinese honeysuckle or Rangoon creeper. However, it does have the same properties as the correct YTT plant: the blooms change colors from a deep pink/red to light pink to white. Its fragrance is pretty potent (hated passing by ours when I was pregnant). It's also medicinal and its various parts can be used to treat diarrhea, fever, rheumatism etc.

9. Guava



We love the fruit (the one shown here is tiny - just had a harvest, lol). We eat it as it is or use it for cooking. The plant itself has many uses. The leaves and bark are commonly used in folk medicine (an especially necessary element in non-modern circumcision practices, lol). It's one of our power plants. Have one growing in your yard and you may never have to go to a drugstore at all.

4 comments:

Rachel said...

Hello there Mrs. Ivy -
Thank you for the comment. I was glad you stopped by. You don't have to start from the beginning; that is where I am starting. After I finish this year of reading all the way through the Bible, I am going to continue you to read it, and post about it on my blog. Yes, you still are qualified! LOL :)

I posted the award you gave me on my blog... come by and check it out!

Love,
Rachel
Matthew 5:14 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."

Rachel said...

Hello there Mrs. Ivy -
I just wanted to let you know I posted the schedule I will be using for the BRC. :) Come by sometime and check it out!
Love,
Rachel

Zen Ventures said...

This is a very educational post! I see some of our native flowers here in the US that I don't even know what their names are. So funny! btw, thanks for your kind thoughts and sweet words. IN God's grace, we are surviving.

aoc gold said...

Bed In Summer

(1)

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light. 。

In summer quite the other way,

I have to go to bed by day.

(2)

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street. 。

(3)

And does it not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
-----by wow powerleveling