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Happy Yellow. Ochna integerrima, Yellow Mai Flower, Taman Botani, Putrajaya, Malaysia

The Taman Botani of Putrajaya is not as much a botanical garden as an arboretum set on the borders of a lake. It's a large and pleasant place and surprisingly yesterday I was the only visitor! The taxi driver said that it's overflowing with people at the weekends.

This pretty Yellow Mai Flower was first described for the West by João de Loureiro (1717-1791), a Portuguese Jesuit missionary who spent most of his life in Indochina. He remarks that it's cultivated in gardens for its aroma and its pretty flowers. Indeed, the flowers are pretty but I smelled nothing, perhaps because of the light drizzle...

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Uploaded on August 24, 2023
Taken on August 23, 2023