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| Rainbow showers |
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| Rainbow showers |
Hawaii streets
are spectacular between May to November because of the blooming of Rainbow
shower trees. It’s a stunning visual feast for the eyes to see such rainbow of
colors like pink, yellow, magenta, white, pale peach, apricot, orange and cream
cascading down the branches, dancing happily in the tropical breeze, lining the
side of the roads, popping up in the parks or along the magnificent
beaches.
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| Rainbow shower |
The Rainbow
tree is “made in Hawaii” because it is hybrid between the golden shower (Cassia
Fistula) and the pink and white shower (Cassia Javanica) from Indonesia and
Sumatra.
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| Yellow shower |
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| Yellow shower |
Blossoms
from the Pink and white showers were pollinated by the pollen from the Indian
variety in 1918 by David Haughes, head nurseryman for the Board of Agriculture
of the Territory of Hawaii. The original rainbow shower tree was planted
in the yard of Wilhelmina Tenny on the Lunalilo street in 1920. [1]
The trees were than propagated by air layering or grafting all over the city
and also the neighboring islands.
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| White and pale yellow showers |
The original
rainbow shower tree of the Wilhelmina Tenny variety still there at Daibutsu terrace of Foster Garden.[2]
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| White showers |
Rainbow
Shower tree is the official street tree of Honolulu designated by the then
Mayor Neil Blaisdell in 1965.
The colorful
blossoms of the shower tree are one of the visible harbinger of summer on the
island where climates are not distinctly demarcated. The peak blooming period
is in July and August, after which the blossoms start withering off.
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Rainbow showers
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| pale yellow showers linning the streets |
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Yellow and white showers
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| Rainbow shower tree |
Rainbow shower trees do not need much water
and grow about 65-70 feet in height. These trees can be seen all over the
Hawaiian Island but more so on Oahu and Big Island.
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| Rainbow shower |
The other variety of shower trees seen in
Hawaii are white, pink and golden yellow in color.
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White and Yellow shower tree
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| Yellow Shower tree over a hedge |
The flowering season ends in November when
the petals are seen fallen like a multicolor carpet which the locals call “The
Hawaiian Snowflakes”.
[1]http://fineartamerica.com/featured/wilhelmina-tenney-rainbow-shower-tree-makawao-maui-flowering-trees-of-hawaii-sharon-mau.html
[2] http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2001/Jul/29/il/il06a.html
