The Royal Poincianas are in bloom. I was going to count them on my bike ride yesterday, but there were too many, so I settled on finding the most beautiful. It shades the yard of a two-story house on SE 17th Ave.
This morning I googled and learned that the tree - with its bright red flowers and Art Deco lamp-shade shape - is indigenous to Madagascar. Its name comes from the Frenchman who introduced it to the Americas: Phillippe de Longvilliers de Poincy. Elsewhere, it has other names: flame tree, flamboyant (with the accent on the final syllable), and, in West Bengal and Bangladesh, krishnachura. As beautiful to say as it is to see.
By Thomas Swick •
Category: hometown
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