A White Elephant Decorated With a Red Flower

My white elephant is decorated with a beautiful red flower.  

Since most white elephants are found in Thailand, I am guessing this little elephant came from Thailand.  I don’t know which flower the artist painted on the elephant but I decided to research special flowers in Thailand.

Thailand’s national flower is the Cassia Fistula.  It is known locally as the Ratchaphruek which means royal tree.  The tree is also known as the chaiyaphruek and the small, yellow flowers may be called dok koon.  These flowers are bright yellow orchids which seem to tumble from the tree as they hang from the stem.  

Thailand has over 1,000 different Orchid species.  There are hundreds of orchid farms that export plants all over the world. The flowers of one of the more common orchid types in Thailand, the Dendrobium, are battered and fried as food.  Orchids make excellent houseplants and they thrive in bright, indirect light. 

The Lotus flower is an important religious symbol.  It is known as the flower of Buddhism and it is also important in Brahmanism. Lotus buds are often left as offerings at shrines. The seeds are edible, the root can be turned into soup, the leaves can be used to wrap food, and the plant is thought to have medicinal properties. This plant lives in bodies of water with the roots growing in the river bed and the flowers and leaves living at the surface.

The fourth flower I want to mention is called the Bat Flower.  The unique shape of this flower resembles a bat flying in the forest.  The large, purply-black bat flower is also known as devil flower and it gives off a foul odour. Some people believe it is bad luck to look into the eye-parts of the flower.  The bat flower thrives in humid conditions and grows in the jungles of Thailand.

None of the flowers I mentioned today look like the one drawn on my elephant.  Maybe some of you can identify the flower in my picture.  Please share which flower you think it might be. 

# living life abundantly    # published author