LT COL NOEL ELLIS
2/IX/2025
A unique vine which has memories related to my childhood always
fascinated me. I had written about it in 2023. It is a ‘perineal climber’ of
the ‘pea’ family called the ‘Rosary Pea’ also. Its botanical name is ‘Abrus
Precatorius’ commonly known as ‘Chirmi’ in Rajasthan.
We were lucky to have seen this climber in our childhood. The boarding
school campus in which we used to stay in Sainik School Kapurthala, Punjab was
an ecosystem in itself. The school was donated by HH Maharaja Jagjit Singh to
the government. HH ensured that trees and shrubs from every country and region
of the world grew and flourished in his estate.
This creeper grew naturally and abundantly at many places in the campus.
We kids were more interested in collecting its seeds and swinging on its thick
stems which must have taken this creeper ages to become so woody and thick to
take a man’s weight.
One day, while searching an online portal, I found that a sapling of
this plant was available. We had just shifted to our new home in the Sun City
and I wanted the front portion to be covered with a thick natural canopy.
Relating it with my childhood, this climber grew as dense as a tree. It
was time to give it a try and it was ordered.
On arrival, it was a weak, frail and a one foot plant. All its leaves
had yellowed and the plant was almost ‘dead on arrival’. With hope in my heart
and a positive thought it was planted in a pot to regain its health and get out
of all it had endured during transit.
The year was 2022. Slowly and steadily, new shoots emerged. We were
excited and happy that at least it got a gift of life. One thing I knew was
that this was a hardy plant and could grow in harsh conditions. In Kapurthala,
except for the rainy season, no one watered it but the plant thrived and grew
as a wild creeper.
From a foot long stem, it started to creep skywards slowly. The weather
changed and it shed its leaves. Just a thin, twisted stem as thin as a wire
kept alive sans any leaves in winter. With the onset of spring, it sprung to
life. This year it grew faster than expected.
When all the other pots were watered, so was this one. The same went for
manuring. The only issue was its placing according to the sun. We kept the pot
under our Champa tree hoping that the vine would latch on to its trunk and go
up, like other vines.
On its way up came the grain feeder for the birds. Birds were not happy
to have a cluster of vines impeding their landing area to enjoy the grain. They
would peck on it and even fractured its fragile and delicate stem.
It was a blessing in disguise. From that very place, the vine split into
two shoots and went higher up the tree. With great care, we ensured that the
portion of the vine which was obstructing the birds was carefully shifted and
tied to the tree. The antlers of the vine were entwined with the hanging pots
for support and further growth. The vine latched on.
This morning my heart swelled with pride and a smile broke on my face
when I saw something unusual on the vine.
We have had pest attacks and such clusters could be them. But lo and
behold, our vine has come to flower for the first time since it was sown. The
flowers are akin to the flowers of French beans.
For the flowers to convert into seed pods and dry to give us the black
and red Chirmi beads would take time. One has waited four years for it to come
to flowering stage, I am sure one has the patience to let it complete its life
cycle.
The link to
my previous article is https://ellisnoel.blogspot.com/2023/05/chirmi.html
Wish us good luck friends that I can share the lucky Chirmi beads which
will emerge soon. How long would it take? I wonder!!!!!!
JAI HIND
©® NOEL
ELLIS
Wishing you all the luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteGreat Noel, good effort, excellent result. Best wishes ahead....
ReplyDeleteThanks you
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