BOOK Title: A LITTLE BOOK OF MAGICAL PLANTS Author: Ruskin Bond Publisher: Rupa Publications India.  Book Review     A Little Book of Magical Plants by Ruskin Bond.            I stumbled upon this cute and charming little book in my Kindle library and picked it because it was written by one of my favourite authors, Ruskin Bond.   In A Little Book of Magical Plants , the renowned author makes us look at plants with respect and awe. This cute little book, written and illustrated in green, is bound to delight adults and children alike.    Bond begins his little book about his favourite plants, shrubs, and trees with his lucky rubber plant, which he says loves to move. It grows all over the place. He shares quirky anecdotes, like how much he loves an aloo–french bean curry and how the tomato, a staple in Indian cuisine, was first considered poisonous.     His keen powers of observation and fondness for his plants s...

  Watermelon is the word! The watermelon plant( Citrullus lanatus ) bears fruit annually and grows well in hot climates. The vines are prostrate with branched tendrils and deeply cut leaves. Single flowers either masculine or feminine grow at the axil of the leaf. The fruit is a type of berry botanically known as Pepo. Watermelon is part of the Cucurbitaceae family and is related to pumpkin, Zucchini, Cantaloupe and Cucumber.  Watermelons are either oval or spherical in shape and are dark green or maybe green with white stripes. The sweet juicy flesh is either reddish or pink and holds pips that are either black, brown or white in colour. Watermelons weigh anything between 2kg to 20kg and the number of fruits per vine varies between 2 to 15. Native to Africa, watermelons also grow in the Middle -East, USA, India, Japan and Europe. China leads the world's production of watermelons producing almost 60% of the production.  Nutrition:  The  watermelon is low in cal...