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
The carnivorous Burman’s sundew, Drosera burmanii
Starry pipewort, Eriocaulon stellulatum
The carnivorous Indian sundew, Drosera indica
Silk leaf, Lagascea mollis, has lots of tiny flowers clustered together
Sonkadi, Pentanema indicum
The strange green flowers of Euphorbia laeta, Dudhi
The invasive Chinese knotweed, Persicaria chinensis
The very common giant milkweed, Calotropa gigantea
The very rare Ceropegia jainii
Ceropegia vincaefolia flowers on large bushes
The hard to find neelambari, Delphinium malabaricum
The carnivorous purple bladderwort, Utricularia purpurascens
Dipcadi montanum (ursulae)
The tiny Cyanotis fasciculata, Nilwanti
flowers of the Indian arrowroot, Curcuma caulina
The widespread herb called water willow, karambal, Justicia procumbens
The late waking Murdannia lanuginosa, Abolima
Toothbrush orchid, Habenaria heyneana
The parasitic purple witchweed, Striga gesnerioides, grows on roots of peas
Smithia sensitiva carpets the plateau sometimes
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).
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Author: I. J. Khanewala
I travel on work. When that gets too tiring then I relax by travelling for holidays. The holidays are pretty hectic, so I need to unwind by getting back home. But that means work.
View all posts by I. J. Khanewala
oh gorgeous and all those small flowers… thank you
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Thanks for commenting. They are lovely.
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Makes me feel so heavenly being a flower lover 😍
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More power to you 🙂
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They are endearing.
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Thank you
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