(whipcord cobra lily)
Whether we realize it or not, weather plays an important role in our daily lives. Long before sophisticated meteorological instruments and satellite imageries, people have been trying to predict weather by looking for signs provided by nature. Surprisingly, even today when weather change is on the horizon, nature gives us many clues. All we need to do is to read the signs and guess what’s coming our way.
Living in the cool climes of the Himalayas, it is the rainy season with its torrential rain, fog and high humidity that dampens the spirit. By mid august the monsoon season is at its peak and the gloom and over dose of rains take their toll on the body and soul. There is hardly any one who does not long to see the bright skies again. When will the rains stop is the question paramount on everyone’s minds and we look for the answer from the meterological department. Unfortunately, their prediction is as unpredictable as the weather itself.
Predicting weather is a complex task and requires expensive hardware but there are numerous references in the hills where appearance of migratory birds, flowering of particular plants, unusual animal and insect behavior like ants hurrying about with their eggs, birds having a dust bath and changing colour of animal fur are taken as signs for predicting weather change.
Having spent numerous rainy seasons in Shimla, I look at the met office weather forecast with distrust and suspicion. Instead, I have tried to forecast weather change by looking for clues offered by nature. A very unusual plant called the whipcord cobra lily provides one such clue that predicts the end of the rainy season. This strange plant is native to the temperate forests and alpine grasslands of the western Himalayas and is found in abundance in and around the forests of Shimla. The name comes from its cobra like appearance. The plants fleshy stalk with its distinctive snake like markings emerges in spring adorned by two tropical palm like green leaves. As the leaves unfold, the pitcher that tops the stem opens to reveal a strange green flower that has a cobra like hood and a whip like tongue extending upward from the mouth of the flower. Some species of the same plant have two whip like tongues extending upward from the flower that resemble the forked tongue of a snake. Gradually the flower matures into a green corn stalk, which ripen to red berries.
Commuting to my place of work, I eagerly look out for these bright red berries of the whipcord cobra lily for when they appear, it is a sure sign which indicates that if the rains are here, bright clear autumn skies are not far behind.

(red berries of the whipcord cobra lily)