Garlic vine (লতা পারুল ফুল) - Mansoa alliacea

Bengali Name :	Lota parul (লতা পারুল ফুল), Neel parul (নীল পারুল ফুল).
Common Name :	Garlic vine, False garlic, etc.
Botanical Name :	Mansoa alliacea
Synonym :	Bignonia alliacea
Family :	Bignoniaceae

Name of the flower is Garlic vine flower. From its name it is easily understandable that the plant is a vine. It is native to the North and South American region. Apart from the name Garlic vine it is also known as False garlic. Squeezing the leaf will produce an odor like garlic. That's why both the English names are having the word garlic.

In Bangladesh we call Garlic vine as Lota parul ful (লতা পারুল ফুল). Another beautiful alternate name is Neel parul ful (নীল পারুল ফুল). This beautiful flower belongs to the plant family Bignoniaceae. It is having a botanical name Mansoa alliacea with lot of synonyms (i.e. Bignonia alliacea).

Lota parul (লতা পারুল ফুল) is a woody evergreen vine (or can say shrub) that grows as a bush. Leafs are bright green and sometimes the terminal of the leaf converts into a tendril that helps the plant to climb further. Leafs are having sharp smell like garlic only when it is crushed or squeezed. Propagate can be done using from its root or from the cutting.

Flowers are very beautiful and having a shape of a trumpet. Color of the flower is rosy/lavender and the center of the flower is white/yellow. Flowers start to faded out as the time progresses. It has five petals. Blooming season is mainly at the late autumn to spring here in Bangladesh. Flowers are fragrant and lure bees, butterflies, and small birds for the nectar.

Lot of people use to get confused with this flower with the original Parul (পারুল). Lot of people are in search for that rare flower. And lot of experts have already given up and declared that no such flower ever existed in this Bengal. I am also looking for that Parul (পারুল) flower. May be someday I'll get that one too (if that really really exists).


Photos of this article were taken from the Botanical garden beside the Agriculture University, Mymensingh (ময়মনসিংহ). It was the month of March 2013.


This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icwow.blogspot.com/