Nagaland: Where Poinsettias Grow Like a Weed

Thanks to my mother who is quite a gardener, I have picked up a fascination with flora and fauna, and wherever I travel, I take note of what is similar and different from my native Washington, D.C. In Nagaland--literally on the other side of the globe--it has been fascinating to observe foliage. The stark, subtropical mountains of Kohima remind me of areas of Oaxaca, Mexico, which also has a similar climate of a rainy season and a very dry season. We are up higher here than in most parts of Oaxaca--so there are differences, but there are still abundant chiles, poinsettias growing wild, and the occasional banana tree or sugar cane (just to remind you that we are near the tropics:)

Poinsettias grow EVERYWHERE.

We are here during the winter, the dry season. So less is blooming. But here are some shots of the foliage. I am also including some shots from the market to give you a sense of the local produce.

Dzukou - a valley sitting on top of 8000 ft. mountains. In the summer, it if full of wild flowers.

These mountains resemble the highlands of Oaxaca and Puebla, Mexico.

Nagas boil and eat these beautiful leaves.

Nagas eat their food HOT.

Holly

Magnolia

Bouganvilla 

Hybiscus

Rhodedendum - in the mountains near Kohima, sits the largest Rohdedendrum in the world.