Monday, August 1, 2016

Rainbow Shower trees in the Rainbow state of Hawaii.

Rainbow showers 

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. 


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.


Yellow shower 
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.


White and pale yellow showers

The original rainbow shower tree of the Wilhelmina Tenny variety still there at Daibutsu terrace of Foster Garden.[2]


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. 


Rainbow showers

pale yellow showers linning the streets
Yellow and white showers


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.


Rainbow shower
The other variety of shower trees seen in Hawaii are white, pink and golden yellow in color.

White and Yellow shower tree


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

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