This is the 6th post in the Series of Picture Poster-Flowers.The following blog posts have been separated into pictures with flowers, bees, birds, insects and others. Each blog post will contain about six to eight pictures in each series; and there will be more than a blog post for each section.
The following illustrations have been resized from their originals to expedite quicker uploading for internet purposes. As such, there will be a drop in the picture or text quality.

The lotus flower is one of the most ancient and deepest symbols of our planet. The lotus flower grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable beauty. … Untouched by the impurity, lotus symbolizes the purity of heart and mind. The lotus flower represents long life, health, honour and good luck. It is also symbolic of detachment as drops of water easily slide off its petals. In Chinese medicine, every part of the lotus plant, from roots to petals, has medicinal properties, thus making this symbol an even more potent feng shui cure for a healthy and harmonious home. Picture taken at home in 2017.

There are numerous named cultivars differing in flower colour (yellow, pink, orange) and plant size. Several popular cultivars are dwarfs, usually staying under 3 ft (0.91 m) in height. Nora Grant is a popular dwarf and Super King is a popular hybrid with much larger flower clusters. Many new cultivars and hybrids of I. coccinea have come to market in the last couple of decades, leading to a resurgence in popularity for the beautiful flame-of-the-woods.

This picture was taken while on vacation in Tanah Lot on April 2015. I made a special trip there to take pictures of the temple. We stayed at the Pan Pacific Nirwana Resort, an easy five to seven minute walk through the Resort grounds to this temple. The lotus was growing in a pond of the hotel.

Bougainvillea (/ˌbuːɡɪnˈvɪliə/ or /ˌboʊɡɪnˈvɪliə/) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees with flower-like spring leaves near its flowers.
The vine species grow anywhere from 1 to 12 m (3 to 40 ft.) tall, scrambling over other plants with their spiky thorns. The thorns are tipped with a black, waxy substance. They are evergreen where rainfall occurs all year, or deciduous if there is a dry season. The leaves are alternate, simple ovate-acuminate, 4–13 cm long and 2–6 cm broad. The actual flower of the plant is small and generally white, but each cluster of three flowers is surrounded by three or six bracts with the bright colours associated with the plant, including pink, magenta, purple, red, orange, white, or yellow. The sap of bougainvillea can cause serious skin rashes, similar to toxicodendron species. Picture taken in my garden on September 18th 2018.

Melastoma malabathricum, known also as Malabar melastome, Indian rhododendron, Singapore rhododendron and senduduk, is a flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. Wikipedia. It is sometimes called the Singapore rhododendron although it is not a rhododendron and is not confined to Singapore. The extracts from leaves and flowers of M. malabathricum showed promising anticancer activity toward human breast cancer cell lines.
Shrubs with white flowers are sometimes seen, and the Malays consider these to have magical properties. The petals emerge from a cup-shaped calyx which remains after the flowers drop off. The fruits are berry-like and break open irregularly. The seeds stain the mouth when eaten, and is sweet and slightly astringent. They are eaten by children as well as birds, squirrels and monkeys.

I. coccinea is a dense, multi-branched evergreen shrub, commonly 4–6 ft (1.2–1.8 m) in height, but capable of reaching up to 12 ft (3.7 m) high. It has a rounded form, with a spread that may exceed its height. The glossy, leathery, oblong leaves are about 4 in (10 cm) long, with entire margins, and are carried in opposite pairs or whorled on the stems. Small tubular, scarlet flowers in dense rounded clusters 2–5 in (5.1–12.7 cm) across are produced almost all year long.

Melastoma malabathricum, known also as Malabar melastome, Indian rhododendron, Singapore rhododendron and senduduk, is a flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. Wikipedia.
A Shrub 1-2m tall, though they can grow into small trees if left uncut. Leaves narrow and pointed at both ends (5-9cm long) with 3-5 longitudinal veins. Stems reddish and covered with bristly scales. Flowers purplish-pink, large (5-7cm) and showy, 5-10 growing at the end of a branch. According to Corners, the flower opens only for one day, opening at about 8am and closing in the late afternoon, the petals falling off a few days later.keys.

Calotropis gigantea. Common Names : Crown Flower, Remiga, Merigu, Giant Indian Milkweed, Giant Milkweed, Ivory Plant, Swallow-wort, Asclepiad Tree, Kayu Berduri, Kemengu, Rembaga.
Growth Form: Medium to big shrub with stout rangey form, up to 4m height when planted in ground.
Foliage: Leaves large, thick, tomentose-velvety, pale silvery-green with powdery bloom on both surfaces.
Fruits: Fleshy capsules, curved and somewhat horned-shaped, ripening from green to yellowish-brown, and splitting apart to reveal small lightweight seeds with fine woolly hairs which assist in dispersal by wind.
Ethnobotanical Uses :
Edible Flowers and used for herbs and spices.
Medicinal: All parts of plants considered to be medicinally effective if taken in small doses. Bark used for dermatitis and syphilis — treatment is so effective for the latter that plant is known as ‘vegetable mercury’. Leaves used as poultice. Flowers used to relieve asthma. Toxic milky sap also known to be used to induce abortions and for infanticide. Products: Plant sap used for tanning and making yellow dye. Fine fibres can be extracted from stems. Flowers are long-lasting, and often used as cut flower in floral arrangements in Thailand. Flowers also strung into leis in Hawaii.
Pictures taken at Singapore Botanic Gardens. Healing Garden Section.
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