One Seed Leaf: Monocots
Grasses, palms, lilies, and irises are monocots: their seeds sprout with a single leaf, their leaves usually have parallel veins, and their flower parts often come in threes.
Hedge Bamboo
बाँस
Bambusa sp.
Bamboo is a grass, the fastest-growing plant on Earth: some kinds grow nearly a meter in a day. Its leaves have straight, parallel veins, like all grasses.
Dubo (Bermuda Grass)
दुबो
Cynodon dactylon
In Nepal this is dubo, the sacred grass offered in worship and to Lord Ganesh. It spreads fast with runners above and below the ground.
Buddha Belly Bamboo
Bambusa ventricosa
Bamboo is a giant grass. When this one grows in a pot or dry soil, the sections of its stems swell into round “bellies.”
Dracaena
Dracaena sp.
Dracaenas are unusual monocots that grow woody, tree-like stems. New leaves grow at the top, and old ones fall away, leaving rings on the stem.
Corn Plant
Dracaena fragrans
Its long, arching leaves with a pale stripe look like corn leaves. Once in a while it opens clusters of small flowers that are fragrant at night.
Asparagus
कुरीलो
Asparagus sp.
The feathery “leaves” of asparagus are really tiny stems; its true leaves are small scales. The spears we eat are the young shoots of the edible kind.
Cast Iron Plant
Aspidistra elatior
Named for being nearly impossible to kill, it survives deep shade, dry air, and neglect. Its small purple flowers open right at ground level.
African Lily
निरकमल
Agapanthus africanus
A ball of blue trumpet flowers on a tall stalk, each with six petal-like parts in two sets of three. It is not a true lily.
Asiatic Lily
खिरौंला
Lilium sp.
A true lily, growing from a bulb of fleshy scales. Its six petals and six stamens show the monocot pattern of threes clearly.
Fringed Iris
Iris japonica
Count the parts of the flower: three petals, three sepals, and three style branches, all in threes. The ruffled edges give it the name fringed iris.
Bearded Iris
Iris germanica
The fuzzy “beard” on each lower petal is a landing strip that guides bees toward the nectar, past the pollen. Its leaves grow in flat, sword-shaped fans.
Crinum Lily
सुदर्शन फूल
Crinum × powellii
It grows from a huge bulb and sends up clusters of fragrant pink trumpet flowers, each with six petals: the monocot pattern of threes.
Spiderwort
Tradescantia sp.
Each small flower has three petals, a clear sign of a monocot. Its stems root wherever they touch the ground.
More in The Plant Family Tree
The garden is alive and changes through the year. Some plants flower, fruit, or rest only in certain seasons, so what you see depends on when you visit.
See them for yourself
Every plant here grows on our campus in Bhaktapur. Walk the garden on your visit.
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