| Latin Name | Observation date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Ixora | 27 Jun, 2025 | North Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia |
One quiet morning in the corner of the yard, the sun had just shone its rays. The air was still fresh, and thin dew still hung on the green leaves. Among the small bushes, my gaze fell on a cluster of captivating pink flowers—flowers that we Acehnese call needle flowers, or in other languages are also known as asoka flowers.
I couldn't miss that beauty. Carefully, I raised my cellphone camera and took a close-up shot. The small flowers were lined up tightly, as if holding hands, forging togetherness on the towering, slender, bright red stems.
Each tiny petal seemed to suggest a story, about the fortitude of growing under the heat and rain, about the gentleness that never loses its charm even though it doesn't smell pungent.
For us in Aceh, this flower is not just an ornamental plant. It brings memories—about childhood, about playing in grandma's yard, about little hands picking them and stringing them into simple bracelets or crowns. This needle flower is part of a life story, growing silently but always present in every season.
Now, the flower portrait is stored in my gallery. But more than that, it is embedded in my heart—a simple beauty that I managed to capture, not just through the lens, but through feeling.
| Link to original | community |
|---|---|
| Link | https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/294216533 |
| Latitude | Longitude | Map |
|---|---|---|
| 4.9786331 | 97.2221421 | https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=4.9786331&mlon=97.2221421#map=12/4.9786/97.2221 |
