eUgen Series 6: Portia / Indian Tulip Stories
Flower and bud of Indian Tulip Tree/ Portia Tree/ Paras Pipal/ Paras piplo/ aastha/ Parosa pimpal/ Charudaru/ Cilanti/ Poovarasu/ Gangaravi/ Thespesia populnea/ Malvaceae/ — — ‘Thespesia’ in Latin means ‘told by God’ and ‘Populnea’ in Latin means ‘poplar like’, referring to the leaves. Native to India, China and Australia. Found commonly on coasts around the world. Tree is regarded as sacred in Polynesian cultures.
The heartwood of the tree is used to make sculptures, musical instruments ( used to make ‘tavil’, the South Indian Carnatic Musical Instrument) and for carving curios. Bark is used to treat skin diseases and leaves are applied to get relief from swollen joints.
Shakespeare created powerful stories around chosen character/s and through the narratives one understands that “Portia’ ( Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar) is associated with both beauty and the brain. Portia is a preferred female name and noticeably, we have a tree ( See the beautiful flower above), a Spider, a Butterfly, and an Orchid are all named after Portia. This really exemplifies the fact that irrespective of its etymological base , it is the power of the story one creates around an object or individual that matters. Interestingly, Portia comes from Latin ‘porcus’ meaning Pig or hog (domesticated Pig). Portia is the feminine form of a Roman family name Porcius. The Porcius family was known for their big, established hog business. One of the variants of the German Car Porsche ( meaning ‘offering’) and a popular game are also named Portia.
#ethnobotany #plantphotography #ethnobotanyenthusiast#thevkvk #thespesia #thespesiapopulnea #poovarasu #portiatree#portiatreeflower #indiantuliptree #paraspipal #malvaceae#malvaceaefamily #bud #buds#indiantulipbud #portiaflower