Wednesday, February 11, 2009

No Mickey Mouse

This is a bloom (only one?) from my Ochna integerrima. It blooms in February as usual, but it misses the new lunar year by more than a couple of weeks. We can't blame the plants because they do not know about calendars, but only season. There is a widespread misconception about the Ochna species as they are erroneously all called "Mickey Mouse" plants. The integerrima as shown here DOES NOT turn red and make black seeds that make them look like the ears of Mickey Mouse. Ochna serrulata and kirkii do that! Also, it is sometime reported that Ochna blooms are fragrant. Nothing is further to the truth than this. None of the Ochna flowers are fragrant. But they are quite beautiful to look at.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow. SO beautiful. I am taking a roadtrip down to FL next week and I was wondering if you would know where I can get one of these? Even if a seed I can start with. I want to get one for my dad since I know he miss it alot and it is a beautiful plant. If you can tell me please email me at tntran83@hotmail.com

cam on chu in advance.

Thinh Tran