Saturday, April 1, 2017

ගල් ඇඹල[Gal Ambala] (Begonia cordifolia)

An indigenous perennial stemless herb occurs mainly in pockets of humus on rock surfaces, mostly in shade, but occasionally on exposed moist surfaces. It grows mainly in the Southeastern intermediate zone from 100 to 500 m elevations. Flowering from December to March. 

Friday, March 31, 2017

වල් තේ කොළ [Wal te kola]Ceylon tea/Spanish needle/Beggar's tick (Bidens pilosa var. pilosa)

An introduced herb native to temperate and tropical America. Naturalized in Sri Lanka and occurs as two varieties.
var. pilosa (Above pic) - Without or usually with very small white ray flowers. Only known from Peradeniya-Kandy area. Flowering from November to March.
var. minor - Very common weed of roadsides, disturbed places, cultivated grounds, etc. in the montaze zone. Flowering occurs throughout the year.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

පඹුරු[Pamburu](Pamburus missionis)

An indigenous small tree, rather common in dry lowland areas. Often occurs in sandy coastal areas. Flowering in April

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

ගිණිහිරිය[Ginihiriya] (Breynia quadrangularis [Syn: Sauropus quadrangularis])

An indigenous shrub of dry and intermediate zones.

* Sauropus rigidus Thw. which was considered as a rare endemic species is now treated as a synonym of Sauropus quadrangularis (Willd.) Muell. Arg.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Eriocaulon ceylanicum

An endemic perennial herb grows in swampy grasslands, ditches and stream margins of the higher hills from 2000 to 2400 m elevations. Flowering from October to May.

Monday, March 27, 2017

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Grewia bracteata

An indigenous shrub or small tree grows in lower montane forests of the intermediate zone.

Friday, March 24, 2017

දියමිත්ත[Diyamitta]/Velvet leaf(Cissampelos pareira)

Common native slender woody climber occurs throughout the island up to 1200 m a.s.l. Scrambling and twining over shrubs and in trees of forests. Roots, stem and leaves are used in medicine.

Male flower (Picture) Size = 3 mm 

Thursday, March 23, 2017

දොඩම් පනා[Dodam Pana](Glycosmis pentaphylla)

An indigenous shrub or small tree  found in secondary thickets and forest borders of dry and intermediate zone up to about 1000 m a.s.l.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Justicia tranquebariensis

Common native herb or small undershrub grows in light shade among rocks or in sandy ground among short grass in the dry lowlands. Flowering from January to September.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

වැල් කරල් හැබ[Wel karal Haba]/Forest Burr/Creeping Cock's Comb(Pupalia lappacea var. lappacea)

An indigenous herb occurs as two varieties in the island.
  •  P, l, lappacea (Above Picture) - Grows open dry places along forest edges.
  •  P. l. orbiculata  - Common in the sandy places behind the shoreline.

Monday, March 20, 2017

කෙකිළි මැස්ස/කුකුළු මැස්ස[Kekili Messa/Kukulu Messa](Miliusa indica)

Common indigenous shrub or small tree widespread from sea level to about 1000 m a.s.l. in both wet and dry zone forests. But confined to the secondary vegetation in the wet zone. 

Sunday, March 19, 2017

රත පඹ/රට පඹ/බඹු[Ratha Pamba/Rata Pamba/Bambu](Ipomoea quamoclit)

An introduced vine native to the tropical America. Widely cultivated in gardens as an ornamental and also escaped and naturalized in thickets and other disturbed sites. 

Saturday, March 18, 2017

බෝවිටියා/හීන් බෝවිටියා [Bowitiya, Heen Bowitiya](Osbeckia octandra)

An endemic much-branched shrub occurs in grasslands, open places and disturbed grounds along roadsides in both wet and dry lowlands and sometimes also in high elevations in the montane zone. Leaves and roots are used in medicine. 

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Utricularia graminifolia

Common native small herb found on wet rocks and other such wet places from 500 to 2400 m elevations. White stems of this plant with traps (Stolon), running in the moist underground can capture small aquatic animals. Sometime large leaves also have traps. 

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Monday, March 13, 2017

Mitrasacme prolifera [Syn: Mitrasacme indica]

An indigenous small herb occurs in wet open patana lands from sea level to about 700 m elevations.

* Size of the flower 3-4 mm across.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

පිහිඹිය[Pehimbiya] (Filicium decipiens)

An indigenous medium to large size tree common in intermediate and wet zone forests up to 900 m elevations. Flowering and fruiting occurs from January to April. Often planted as an ornamental and shade tree. 

Saturday, March 11, 2017

නෙළු[Nelu] (Strobilanthes diandra)

An endemic under-shrub grows in primary and secondary montane forests and scrubs mainly in the northern part of the Kandy district from 900-1600 m a.s.l.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Thornless mimosa (Aeschynomene americana)

An introduced herb native to tropical and subtropical America. Cultivated as a green-manure cover crop and as hay. Escaped and naturalized along roadsides and waste places.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

ගස් ගොනික[Gas gonika] (Pseudarthria viscida)

Common native erect, trailing or more or less twining perennial herb in light woodlands of the low country up to about 1000 m elevations. 

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

වල් අසමෝදගම්[Wal Asamodhagam] (Pimpinella heyneana)

An indigenous annual herb occurs in moist areas among grass under trees, along roadsides and waste grounds, mainly in the dry lowlands from 70 to 170 m elevations and up to about 1300 m elevations in the Uva province. 

Monday, March 6, 2017

බෝවිටියා[Bowitiya] (Osbeckia aspera)


A much -branched native shrub occurs in grasslands, open forests and among rocks in dry and lower montane zones. 

Sunday, March 5, 2017

තරණ[Tarana]/(Tarenna asiatica)

Common native shrub or small tree occurs in dry scrub and open secondary vegetation of the low country. Flowering from February to April.

Saturday, March 4, 2017

බූ නෙළු[Bu Nelu](Strobilanthes cordifolia [Syn: Stenosiphonium cordifolium])

An indigenous small shrub grows along streams and river banks of secondary forest undergrowth in the dry and intermediate zones. Common and gregarious plant flowering from December to April. 

Friday, March 3, 2017

නාහ[Naha](Lasiosiphon glaucus [Syn: Gnidia glauca])

A much-branched native shrub or occasionally a small tree. Locally common along dry roadsides, dry ground above rock outcrops, open patana lands and rarely in forests from 610 to 1200 m elevations in the western part of the Uva province and eastern part of the Central province.  

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Common Hawk Cuckoo/උකුසු කෝකිලයා/උකුසු කොහා[Ukusu Kokilaya/Ukusu Koha] (Hierococcyx varius)

Race ciceliae is rather uncommon breeding resident from foot hills to the higher hills. Migrant race varius is also very rarely recorded from the lowland areas.  It inhabits well wooded gardens, tea estates, forests, etc. Common Hawk Cuckoo feeds mainly on insects in canopy. But it is said that it also eat some berries and wild figs. It is mostly a solitary bird though sometimes encounters in pairs. It calls day and night during the breeding season though a silent bird out of the season. The breeding season is from January to April and it is a parasitic on babblers.

Common Hawk Cuckoo very closely resembles the Shikra not only in both adults and juvenile coloration, but also by habitual posture, style of flight and even size.

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Saturday, February 25, 2017

රම්පේ[Rampeh](Pandanus amaryllifolius)

An introduced shrub native to the Indonesia. Widely cultivated for the musky-scented leaves, commonly used in cooking as a flavoring. Probably introduced several centuries ago. Its Indonesian name Pandan rampeh is long used in Sri Lanka as Rampeh. This species doesn't flower. 

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Blyth's Reed-warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum)

Rather common winter migrant to gardens, reed-beds, plantations and scrublands throughout the island. It arrives in October to November and during its stay in the island Blyth's Reed-warbler entirely feeds on small insects, while hopping actively among bushes and trees in search of them. In the evening it likes to settle on a dense shrub or a reed-bed in a marsh. It breeds in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia and leaving the island in April to May.

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