Flowers of the Sahyadris

Kaas plateau is a seven hour drive from Mumbai. The herbs flower in the closing weeks of the monsoon: between September and early October. Many of the flowers you see here are also found in the nearby Mahabaleshwar plateau and in Lonavala, closer to Mumbai. Expect lots of small herbs, few bushes and trees only rarely. Be prepared for long walks in rain and mud, with no food and water except what you carry with you.

Glory lily, Gloriosa superba which grows on chest-high bushes

Cyanotis tuberosa, cat’s ears or abhali

Toothbrush orchid, Habenaria heyneana

The carnivorous Indian sundew, Drosera indica

The parasitic purple witchweed, Striga gesnerioides, grows on roots of peas

The invasive Chinese knotweed, Persicaria chinensis

Dipcadi montanum (ursulae)

Sonkadi, Pentanema indicum

The tiny Cyanotis fasciculata, Nilwanti

The very rare Ceropegia jainii

Silk leaf, Lagascea mollis, has lots of tiny flowers clustered together

The carnivorous Burman’s sundew, Drosera burmanii

The hard to find neelambari, Delphinium malabaricum

The very common giant milkweed, Calotropa gigantea

The carnivorous purple bladderwort, Utricularia purpurascens

The widespread herb called water willow, karambal, Justicia procumbens

The late waking Murdannia lanuginosa, Abolima

flowers of the Indian arrowroot, Curcuma caulina

The strange green flowers of Euphorbia laeta, Dudhi

Smithia sensitiva carpets the plateau sometimes

Ceropegia vincaefolia flowers on large bushes

Starry pipewort, Eriocaulon stellulatum

Flowers and herbs of the Western Ghats, especially of the Sahyadris, are now well documented. There are many guides for amateur naturalists like me. I was introduced to the pleasures of flowers by Adesh Shivkar and Mandar Khadilkar; google them if you wish. There is nothing available yet for an amateur explorer of the fascinating tiny world of mosses and lichens (see the featured photo).