Family: Ochnaceae
Botanical name: Ochna kirkii
Common name: Mickey Mouse Plant
*Origin: East and South Tropical Africa; Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique
Photographs taken by Autumn Belle at The Secret Garden of 1-Utama
Grateful thanks to Dr. Francis Ng of The Secret Garden of 1-Utama.
*Sourced from USDA website here.
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My post today is dedicated to Mary Anne from Pennsylvania, USA of Stone Manor Garden. She was the first commenter of my previous post titled "Spider Plant". Her latest post is "12 Tips to help you enjoy a Flower Show". I do enjoy Flower Shows and her tips are indeed very useful.
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My post today is dedicated to Mary Anne from Pennsylvania, USA of Stone Manor Garden. She was the first commenter of my previous post titled "Spider Plant". Her latest post is "12 Tips to help you enjoy a Flower Show". I do enjoy Flower Shows and her tips are indeed very useful.
Mickie Mouse plants? They are cute and sweet.
ReplyDeleteLovely ... but I fail to see the mickey mouse connection?? ;>)
ReplyDeleteHi AutumnBelle - I like Carol wonder why it ever got the name the Mickey Mouse Plant. There must be some story behind that - do you know why?
ReplyDeleteI love going to Disneyland, but have never heard of this plant before. I can see where it got it's name though :-)
ReplyDeleteAutumn Belle, lovely blossom and foliage.
ReplyDeleteBananaz, Carol, Rosie(LeavesnBloom), Noelle, Di. Thank you for being my first round of commenters.
ReplyDeleteSynonyms include Ochna thomasiana. I am also puzzled about the connection with Mickey Mouse. When I got to know the name, I began to look closely at the flower. According to reports, the fruits turn black on ripening. Maybe it looks like Mickey Mouse especially when you think about his big round ears and black nose.
Top Tropicals.com put it under Ochna interrigma, common name Vietnamese Mickey Mouse Plant but they listed the origin as South East Asia.
Anyone has another opinion?
The petels do look a bit like mouse ears. The color is real nice too.
ReplyDeleteSuper gorgeous...unqiue and stunning!
ReplyDeleteWonderful entry!
very pretty flower and plant autumn belle, i don't think i've seen these in gardens here yet...is there a fruit?
ReplyDeleteSo then I get the answer. I can find these flowers at Cerok Tokun,
ReplyDeleteand I know them today.
A family of Mickey Mouse.
I can see that you love plants and plants love you ;-)
ReplyDeleteHappy WW!
Digital Flower Pictures, Kiki, I'm glad you like this flower. too.
ReplyDeleteNoel, when you look at the flower on the left, the green colour berry at the centre is the fruit. It turns black later. From internet images, I see these fruits vary between 1 to 6 berries on the same flower. When they are 3 black round 'berries' on the flower, it does look like Mickey Mouse.
Rainfield, you find it here too? Hey, that's great.
Carmen, yes I do love plants and flowers. Plants and flowers reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. Now nice, if they can speak too! Haha! :))
lovely blossom. i don't think i've seen anything like that before. thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely unique flower. I rarely come across this plant.
ReplyDeleteI guess its more foliage than flower plant?
Wonder if there are any herbal/medical benefit for this plant.
Life Ramblings, James. I have only seen this plant at The Secret Garden. I'm not so sure about the medicinal values of this species but I have read that some African tribes press the oil from the seeds to make hair oil and lubricants. It looks like a shrub or a small tree.
ReplyDeleteTo avoid any confusion, I'd like to clarify that this is a photo of the fruits of Mickey Mouse Plan. One shows a green berry surrounded by red bracts. The actual flower is yellow in colour. This is the first time I see this plant with fruit and I have not seen the flower. Maybe I can photograph it the next time but I don't think it blooms frequently. It's just that I am so excited seeing 'Mickey Mouse', I can wait to post it to my blog.
If you search the internet using this common name / botanical name, you can find other images of the flowers and fruits.
haha, i am laughing at the confusion why it is called Mickey Mouse. I have been looking for it in my files but i can't locate the photo. Yes the flowers are normally yellow. When they see the variation in colors of the fruits they will say "it really looks like mickey mouse"! Hi Autumn Belle, i have a saved post for you about hibiscus, hehe.
ReplyDeletethat flower looks positively juicy!
ReplyDeletewow! this is the first time I've seen this plant.
ReplyDeleteMine's up -- 2010 Olympic flame in Calgary
What a strange looking flower. Looks like eyes he he...
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I never heard of that flower before. I am trying to think of what it reminds me of, but I can't place it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know the common name is Mickey Mouse Plant, doesn't look like Mickey or even a Mouse. lol.
ReplyDeleteI love this plant but can't remember the last time I saw it in person...this is almost as good! Great photo! Thanks for sharing, Autumn Belle ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your explanation of the Mickey Mouse look. It is what I hear too. It is not a common plant anymore, I think, as people want to grow more exotic plants.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting-looking plant. The fruits look like olives when they are green, and cherries when they are red!
ReplyDeleteThanks SO much for the dedication and kind words. :-)
I suppose it kind of has a cartoonish look, so bright and zingy, but other than that, Mickey Mouse doesn't seem to connect. It is lovely and exotic, really otherworldly to my temperate-zone eyes. :)
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of our Hypericum I wonder if it is the same family.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, you do have lovely photos of many flowers in your blog which I hope many will get to view. Thank you very much for the hibiscus post. Maraming Salamat!
ReplyDeleteWendy, JO, Stephanie, Lynn, Keats, Mary Anne, Meredith, thank you very much for your visit and comments. When I look closely at the red 'face', I see whiskers and ears and Mickey now. Hopefully, I can get to photograph the fruit when the 'berries' turn black later.
Joanne, after checking, I find that Hypericum belongs to a different family, ie. Clusiaeae. Thanks for you suggestion. I learnt another new plant today.
Catsynth, Jama. Looks are confusing, right? But nice common names are certainly easier to remember than complicated scientific ones.
ReplyDeletereally mickey mouse plant? how cute!
ReplyDelete