The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Scorching summer; blooming trees

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Sunday, Apr 17, 2011
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Scorching summer; blooming trees

Liffy Thomas

Pretty sight:The yellow flowers are in full bloom in Chennai. A scene on New beach Road, Thiruvanmiyur.

CHENNAI: Yellow is the colour of the season. One cannot miss the avenue trees in full bloom.

The copper pod tree (Peltophorum Pterocarpum) shed their flowers this time of the year and turns the area into a yellow carpet. Konna poo or Cassia Fistula is another golden yellow flower that blooms this season. It is most sought-after for Vishu. Unlike last year, they were easily available this year.

According to botanists, the flowering pattern of most trees has been bountiful as rain did not play spoilsport.

“Summer in Chennai for many is scorching heat, but for the trees it is the glorious flowering time. Most of the trees in the city bloom from March to June and the prominent ones are the garish red shades of Gulmohar, African Tulip, Flame of the Forest, Indian Coral Tree, yellow shades of Copper Pod, Indian Laburnum, Siamese Senna,” says Pauline R. Deborah, assistant professor, Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, Women's Christian College.

It is the yellow and red flowers that dominate the city. The small dainty white flowers of Neem and Mahogany go unnoticed because of their size.

“Last year, rains during this time of the year interfered with the physiological flowering pattern,” she says. The flowers of the Copper Pod tree scattered on either side of the road present a pretty picture in many localities.

The roads include Venkateswara Nagar in Saligramam; many streets in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar; Besant Avenue Road and Bharathy Road, First Street, Perambur.

For conservancy workers it, however, means more work. “The fall is too much this year. I have just swept and see how it is falling,” says a corporation worker in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar on Friday. Trees at Semmozhi Poonga on Cathedral Road are also in full bloom.

Recently nearly 3,000 potted plants were added, says an official of the horticulture department. They include marigold and balsam.

The trees at the Egmore Museum also have a display of yellow blossoms. “In fact, white flowers of vettalai have come up as a surprise. Last year, we did not have much,” says M. N. Pushpa, curator of the botany section.

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