Parks and Garden Unit photography

The parks and garden unit of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, has been in existence for a while. That the unit has been in existence long before I was conceived is something I cannot argue.

I do not know what the current status says, but the university used to be tagged "African most beautiful campus" in the past. If this statement were to be anything true, the parks and garden unit definitely must have played a huge role.

The luscious green environment of the university is intermittently interrupted by brightly colored flowers produced by ornamental plant species irrespective of the season. These are plant species that are grown and delicately nurtured by the staff of the parks and garden unit.

The unit is located towards the extreme end of the academic area, Northeastern direction relative to the main gate of the university. It is actually adjacent to the ever-popular spider building.

As a lover of nature and plant ecologist, I decided to pay the unit a visit - partly to look at their plant collections and to make an inquiry about the commercial availability of their nursery ornamental plant species.

I went in the evening, towards the official closing hour for staff. Luckily, I was able to deduce that many of the ornamental plants on display are available for commercial purposes. Unfortunately, however, I could not extract more information relating to prices and nursing of the plants due to the absence of the unit's director.

Hence, I just chose to move around the premises and take pictures of the interesting plants within the vicinity of the garden.

The image above was taken from the garden overlooking the spider house. It showed that the nursery garden is a bit below the surface level when compared to the location of the spider house.

The image above shows 4 different plant species. I happen to know 3 and they are Alstonia boonei, Thuga species, and Rhoea discolor. Looking in the image now, I simply cannot pick the identity of the 4th. The 3 identified species are well-known ornamental plants around here.

From afar, one would thing that the beautifully coloured parts of the plant in the image above are flowers. This was also my thought until I moved very close to the plant and discovered that they are actually leaves. How I wish I know the scientific name of this plant. Anyone does? Hit me up in the comment section.

The image above here are two species of potted plants. The first one looks like a species of cycad while I have got no idea about the identity of the second one.

From my knowledge, not all plants can be potted. Plants suitable for potting do not have extensive roots and thus, their roots can grow with very little to no hindrance for years within a small space.

Since most potted plants are placed indoor, species of plants to be potted must be adaptable to low light. Also, their growth habit should be such that they do not grow to a big size as to become problematic for indoor domestication.

Potted plants should also not be poisonous in any way - be it to pets or humans. We all know what that means, if they are poisonous. Tendering to them should also come easy and most importantly, should be aesthetic.

Above is an image of two species of Christmas trees. Other plant species are around them but identifying them from afar would be a hard task.

And what we have here above is a species of Thuga and the plant that produce colourful leaves. Some species of palm trees can also be seen in the horizon.

Worthy of mentioning here in the image is plant species commonly known as the bamboo, scientifically known as Bambusa vulgaris. I think it is being carefully nursed in order to get to maturity going by the structure. At maturity, it could be harvested for construction purposes.

And the last but not the least, above is an image showing the stem of a plant known as Bombax buonopozense. I simply cannot recollect the common name now, it may even vary from regions to regions. It is a timber species commonly found in the rainforest vegetation zone.