Cactii of rarest kind in a hamlet in Gangadharpur, Howrah
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SPECIALCORRESPONDENT
What began as the need to fulfil a daily exigency, turned into a lifelong passion for flora and Soumen Aditya, a 37-year old self-taught botanist in a remote Howrah hamlet, now boasts of a greenhouse that preservs some of the rarest of the rare cactii.
"It all started with the my mother's need for flowers for her daily puja. I stepped in by helping her grow different varieties of marigold and hibiscus and this planted the passion for growing flowers in me", Aditya said.
In Aditya's greenhouse in Gangadharpur today there are at least 1100 cactii of which nearly 33 foreign species and 17 Indian ones are considered to be rare, according to the Botanical Survey of India.
Most of Aditya's plants are from South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Somalia, Madagaskar, Mexico and Ethiopia.
"I cannot preserve plants from the cold countries because I don't have that kind of sophisticated technological devices in my greenhosue that can maintain the temperature and so I have concentrated on cactii and succulents because that in a way matches the temperature of our country" said Aditya.
"Succulents like Cerepogia Noorjahani, Cerepogia Vincaifolia and Freria Indica grown by Aditya in his greenhouse are hardly found in their native areas", Secretary of Indian Institute of Cactii and Succulents, Meena Singh said.
Aditya also possesses some of the rarest of the rare Indian cactii like the Freria Indica, seen only in the Western Ghats and classified by the Botanical Survey of India among the endangered Palaeoendemic species. "It goes completely to his credit that Aditya has grown them in completely different weather conditions", said Singh.
"He is young and has lot to learn but if he continues on his path with the same zeal then he will surely house a treasure for the country in his collection,'' added Singh.
Aditya has also won accolades from the Indian Institute Cactii and Succulents for his prized preservation of the rarest of the rare cactii and succulents and they have also sent a team to his greenhouse.
One of the prized possessions of Aditya is Hydnophytum Formicurum, a lowland species native to Southern Thailand and Malaysia but also found in the Andamans.
"One of my rarest succulents is Ceropigia Hirsuta- a rare succulent found in Mahabaleswar. The speciality of this succulent is that it stays seven months under the soil and sprouts after the first rain", said Aditya.
Aditya, who has not studied beyond the tenth standard and now works as a consultant to the gardens of two schools, Maharaja Agrasen Model School, New Delhi and Spring Field School, Patna had developed this habit of preserving and growing plants at the age of 15.
"When all my friends were busy playing in the field, I used to sit in my home and watch the flowers grow. Leaving my flowers I never felt the urge to go outside and this passion for flora helped me develop this lifelong association'', Aditya said.
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"It all started with the my mother's need for flowers for her daily puja. I stepped in by helping her grow different varieties of marigold and hibiscus and this planted the passion for growing flowers in me", Aditya said.
In Aditya's greenhouse in Gangadharpur today there are at least 1100 cactii of which nearly 33 foreign species and 17 Indian ones are considered to be rare, according to the Botanical Survey of India.
Most of Aditya's plants are from South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Somalia, Madagaskar, Mexico and Ethiopia.
"I cannot preserve plants from the cold countries because I don't have that kind of sophisticated technological devices in my greenhosue that can maintain the temperature and so I have concentrated on cactii and succulents because that in a way matches the temperature of our country" said Aditya.
"Succulents like Cerepogia Noorjahani, Cerepogia Vincaifolia and Freria Indica grown by Aditya in his greenhouse are hardly found in their native areas", Secretary of Indian Institute of Cactii and Succulents, Meena Singh said.
Aditya also possesses some of the rarest of the rare Indian cactii like the Freria Indica, seen only in the Western Ghats and classified by the Botanical Survey of India among the endangered Palaeoendemic species. "It goes completely to his credit that Aditya has grown them in completely different weather conditions", said Singh.
"He is young and has lot to learn but if he continues on his path with the same zeal then he will surely house a treasure for the country in his collection,'' added Singh.
Aditya has also won accolades from the Indian Institute Cactii and Succulents for his prized preservation of the rarest of the rare cactii and succulents and they have also sent a team to his greenhouse.
One of the prized possessions of Aditya is Hydnophytum Formicurum, a lowland species native to Southern Thailand and Malaysia but also found in the Andamans.
"One of my rarest succulents is Ceropigia Hirsuta- a rare succulent found in Mahabaleswar. The speciality of this succulent is that it stays seven months under the soil and sprouts after the first rain", said Aditya.
Aditya, who has not studied beyond the tenth standard and now works as a consultant to the gardens of two schools, Maharaja Agrasen Model School, New Delhi and Spring Field School, Patna had developed this habit of preserving and growing plants at the age of 15.
"When all my friends were busy playing in the field, I used to sit in my home and watch the flowers grow. Leaving my flowers I never felt the urge to go outside and this passion for flora helped me develop this lifelong association'', Aditya said.
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