FRAGRANT FLOWERS: YTT

When I went to send some old clothings to the Ashram in Sitawan, I noticed a big YTT plant (Brunfelsia pauciflora) growing by the roadside.  The plant was blooming with flowers of dark purple, lavender and white.  I couldn't help but stop the car and get down to take pictures of it to share with you.

The plant is called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (YTT) because when the flowers first start to bloom they are dark purple and then fade to lavender and finally white.  The flowers give off a sweet and fragrant smell.  When I went out to snap the purple, lavender and white flowers that were growing aplenty on the plant, I could smell their fragrance permeating the air of the surroundings.

Actually, many Malaysian are not too keen on planting plants with fragrant smelling flowers as they believe fragrant or pleasant smells attract supernatural beings or spirits. The most common flowers said to be spirit or ghost magnets are jasmine, orange and white chempaka, rose, ylang-ylang and dew magnolia.