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SeasonWatch Newsletter
May 2017
Hello SeasonWatch supporter,
Summer is here and so are summer holidays! What have you been doing this summer? Have you been diving in a pool, eating ice-cream? Are you also visiting your grandparents and running around in their garden or are your children doing the running around? What does summer most remind you of? While you are out and about, do notice the vibrant yellows and reds around you. Cassia fistula, Magnolia champaca, and Delonix regia are flowering profusely and lending incredible sights to our neighbourhoods. When you go watching these trees, do also rest a while in their cool shade as trees are nature's true air conditioners and coolers.
Watch what these trees are up to in their lives as you go about yours!
Regards,
SeasonWatch Team
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Featured tree
Indian laburnum
Cassia fistula, Indian laburnum, bears hanging bunches of bright yellow flowers. These lovely flowers are used during the celebration of Vishu, the new year festival of Kerala. This festival falls in April each year and because of the cultural importance of the flowering in this tree, people associate the event with the beginning of another year. And yes, Cassia fistula is also the correct answer to our last month's quiz! See below for those who sent us correct answers.
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SeasonWatch Quiz
Who am I?
See the picture of my seeds above. Any idea, who I am? I am sure you have seen my small, yellow-green, bitter fruits. No? But surely you must have heard about me. My flowers are used to prepare a rasam in Tamil Nadu. My leaves, when dry, are burnt to smoke out mosquitoes. My tender branches are used for dental hygiene.
Guess this tree and be the first one to answer by writing to us on sw@seasonwatch.in.
Those who correctly answered our last quiz are:
R Saranya
Annamma Baby
Vaishnu Balaji
Congratulations to all three! Hope to see you again for this month's quiz.
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Stories from students
SeasonWatching in Isha Home School
Just ahead of their summer holidays, students from Isha Home School in Coimbatore wrote to us. They have written lovingly about their trees through poems and letters. We thank them for their enthusiasm and participation, and hope to see them again in the next academic year!
We have selected three of their poems below. We are sure you too will enjoy them as much as we did.
Hello My Friend!
by Tejasvi Krish Venkat for her Syzygium tree
Hello my friend,
How may you do?
I’m sure you’d have room for two,
Adventures we’d have,
And if you’ve gotten any problems,
I’ll report them right away,
OKAY?
By the way, you’re so kind, old, and hard to find.
I don’t mean your specimen, I mean you,
And that is completely true,
As the sky is blue.
So, are we friends, Jamun tree?
It would really prithee me.
~~~
My SeasonWatch Tree
by Anbu for his Cassia fistula
Bright yellow flowers fill this tree
Animals and birds come here and eat
It’s the most marvellous thing in the galaxy
Never messed up, always neat
As I come towards the Indian laburnum
Every single thing disappears around me
The only thing that captivates my attention
Is none other than the Cassia fistula
My season watch tree
~~~
Valour
by Nitya for her Pongamia pinnata
A few days ago she was nothing but a bare tree
But now she is adorned in shades of green leaves
The bees buzzing on her fragrant flowers
Ants climbing her caressingly
She shows me how to grow without fear
From being bare to bear the fruits
And that’s why I named her Valour!
~~~
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News and Events
You can now add notes on your SeasonWatch observations. This feature adds more detail to the data that you are collecting and help in understanding it better. We will soon add this feature to the app, to make it easier for those using smartphones for data upload.
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Recap
A hearty welcome to new SeasonWatchers!
Individuals: Varun Nallur, Anuja Kumari, Marcy Newman, Aswathy Raju, Daniel D K Myrthong, Anaswara Raju, Viji, Shambhavi Sinha, Savithri, Regina, Abhishek Jamalabad, Pratima Jamalabad, Nikhil Kumaresan, Sujit Katyal, Hameed Manjeshwar
Schools: PPTMYHHS Cherur, Jamal Mohamed College, Orchard School, Government HS Pudur, PUM School Mettanginam
Top tree species observed: Rain Tree (Samanea saman), Mango (Mangifera indica), Mast Tree (Polyalthia longifolia), Gulmohar (Delonix regia), Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)
Total trees observed: 645
Total observations: 2869
Total observation in SW database: 134452
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