Welcome to Happy Botanist!

A botanist’s trail through the plant kingdom…
Nicotiana attenuata flowers

Nicotiana Attenuata - A plant with amazing adaptations

The plant is also known as Wild tobacco or Coyote tobacco and is native to western North America and northern Mexico. These plants grow well in these regions. They are widely used for various medicinal purposes and for smoking by the Aborigines in North America. Nicotiana attenuata has been recently studied by many plant biologists and chemists and the observations blew their mind which you’ll read here and get your mind blown! ...

October 16, 2025 · 5 min · Sevvel
Impatiens growing on a rock face

Impatiens of the Western Ghats

Impatiens are a genus of plants belonging to the family Balsaminaceae. The family Balsaminaceae consists of two genera. One being Impatiens and the other Hydrocera with only one species - Hydrocera triflora. Impatiens is however a large and diverse genus with more than 1000 species of plants. Impatiens are commonly called as Balsam, Jewelweed, Snapweed and Impatiens as well! Okay. Now that you’ve acquainted with the family and the genus, let’s talk about their distribution and their diversity in Western Ghats. ...

October 12, 2025 · 12 min · Sevvel
Velliangiri Hills during monsoon

A Beautiful Monsoon Trip to the Velliangiri Hills!

Introduction Velliangiri hills are a series of hills in the Western Ghats. It is located in the Boluvampatti forest range of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Velliangiri hills is a popular pilgrimage center in Southern India. It is also called as “Southern Kailash” by the devotees. Every year, pilgrims go by walk through the wilderness across the seven hills to pay their homage to Shiva who is sat at the top of the seventh hill. Usually pilgrimage is allowed only during the dry seasons of March, April and May. It is the most suitable time for trekking these hills as it rains here the rest of the year and makes the pathways really slippery and dangerous. Even more, during the monsoon months, with the bountiful rains, the forests will be lush and there will be huge number of elephants roaming these forests. ...

October 11, 2025 · 6 min · Sevvel