Smithia hirsuta flower carpets spread across Kaas Plateau of flowers, Satara

Smithia Hirsuta or the Hairy Smithia is a slender, erect herb, 30-35 cm tall from the pea family found in abundance at Kaas plateau. It is also known as Kawla in Marathi and because of its resemblance with the famous Disney cartoon character, it is also called Mickey Mouse flower. Common nature enthusiasts call these flowers as "donald duck or smithia" wildflowers. These flowers are seen open in morning, in afternoon and in evening the petals close. The stem, either unbranched or with a few ascending branches, is covered by yellowish, glandular-based hairs. Leaves are pinnately compound, leaflets 2-4 pairs, each 6-10 x 2-5 mm, obovate or oblong, serrate, apex rounded, bristle-tipped. Flowers yellow, with reddish marks on two main petals in few-flowered, compact racemes at the end of branches. The flowers have 5 free petals - "standard" petal with reddish marks on 2 sides. These flowers are seen in monsoon and post monsoon season on hills and hill slopes. Flowering season is usually during the month of September and October.

Kaas plateau of flowers is located in Satara district of Maharashtra state of India about 26 km away from. It is a plateau with amazing variety of flowers and wildlife. This place is best for photographers though sunlight can be an issue best time to visit is September to October. You can visit from Mahableshwar or Tapola or Satara. Satara District is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of 10,480 km² and a population of 2,808,994 of which 14.17% were urban (as of 2001). Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns include Wai, Karad, Koregaon, Koyananagar, Rahimatpur, Phaltan, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. This district comes under Pune Administrative Division along with Pune, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur Districts. The district of Pune bounds it to the north, Raigad bounds it to the North-West, Solapur the east, Sangli to the south, and Ratnagiri to the west.

Source: Wikipedia

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