The flame trees bloom all over the crossroads; we say goodbye and each go our separate ways

Remember the article Shaoyao wrote before the Start of Winter last year? - "The Northern Hemisphere Freezes Like a Dog, the Southern Hemisphere Is Beautiful as a Fairy ~ Jacaranda Has Flooded the Screen for 3 Years!"

Back then we wrote about "jacaranda," that exploding sea of blue-purple flowers that took over spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Today, I want to talk about "honghuaying," which is the flame tree. Because if spring in the Southern Hemisphere belongs to jacaranda, then the one that can rule its entire summer is none other than the flame tree~

Today's music is "The Crossroads Where the Flame Trees Bloom" by Terry Lin.

The Crossroads Where the Flame Trees Bloom

 Absolute must-have

Terry Lin 

00:00/04:14

{ Shaoyao Girl Vol.799 }

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The Crossroads Where the Flame Trees Bloom

The first time Shaoyao heard of the flame tree was in Eileen Chang's novel "Love in a Fallen City."

It's just that the Hong Kong people in it called the flame tree "shadow tree." Fan Liuyuan told Bai Liusu that the shadow tree is a tree that is "so red it couldn't be redder":

“Red beyond all restraint,

Cluster after cluster of small flowers,

Nestled on towering trees, crackling as they burn,

Burning all the way across, even dyeing that purple-blue sky red.”

At the time I was imagining that scene of flowers blooming at their fullest.

Until one trip to Xiamen, when I happenedto see a tree covered in brilliant red flowers on a green mountainside. I asked the locals what it was. The locals said, "flame tree”。

So this was the flame tree. It really was just as I had imagined,blazing with splendor。

A flowering flame tree,

is like after a summer thunderstorm,

patches of fiery clouds lingering above the treetops.

It is a kind of elevated, grand "empressred”。

Once you get into the city proper, it's even more incredible,countless flame trees occupy almost every street and park in Xiamen, from East Lake Park to OCT Ecological Plaza and then to Guanlan River,the whole city turns into passionate red。

Tourists come out in droves,

some admiring the dense red flowers all along the way beneath the flame trees.

Others striking cool poses and taking photos as keepsakes.

Who says boys can't take pretty photos~

Red flame flowers in the clear summer sky,

and their reflections in the water enhance each other,

making peoplefeel like they are in heaven,

just passing through the mortal world。

As the city tree of Xiamen,

the flame flowers of Gulangyu carry the breath of the sea。

Image: Weibo @Qiyue de Xia

Gentle sunlight,

flickering in tiny fragments among the branch tips,

makes people unable to stop staring~

The wind blows and flowers fall,

as if a red carpet has been laid.

How could anyone bear to move their feet?!

Can I turn into a little bird and fly away~~

Just like this ground full of red fallen flowers, all the other names of the flame tree are fiery too. Besides "shadow tree," it is also called "flame tree”、“flame of the forest”、“red flower tree" and so on.

The flame tree,

a deciduous tree of the genus Delonix in the legume family,

is tall,reaching more than 20 m high!

Its freely spreading branches hold a canopy full of blossoms like an umbrella.

The flowering period lasts two months.When I went to Xiamen it was May, exactly when the flame flowers bloom on a large scale. Then in September, it blooms again.

The flower color is bright red, red all the way to the inner side of the calyx.

The corolla has five petals, about 8 cm long,

and can be made into butterfly-shaped arrangements，

that look very beautiful~

The flower stalks vary in length,

holding the blossoms out on one plane.

It is a typical corymb.

The leaves of the flame tree arebipinnately compound, with opposite pinnae. There are more than 15 pairs of pinnae, and each pinna has 20-40 pairs of leaflets.

The leafletsare tender green,

setting off the red petals especially beautifully。

Image: Weibo @Huajian Xiyan

The flame tree producesswollen pods,

long ones, each reaching about 60 cm.

Hanging beneath the branches like hyacinth beans.

When mature they turn dark brown and become woody.

Crisp, breaking apart at a knock.

The flame tree is a tropical species. It comes from Madagascar in Africa. Abroad,the flame tree is hailed as one of the most brilliantly colored trees in the world.

Don't let the red of the flame flowers fool you,

as if just looking at them makes you feel hot,

in tropical places like Vietnam, it is actuallya shade tree。

Planted by the seaside it looks even better, full of vacation vibes.

Many Europeans like

to plant flame trees in their courtyards,

the fiery red flame flowers paired with blue jacaranda,

upward they seem able to stir the blue sky,

downward there is a profusion of fallen blossoms.

It is also

especially popular with schools，

In front of the Harry Potter Quadrangle at the University of Sydney,

there is also a flame tree planted alongside a jacaranda。

And in our country'sFujian, Xiamen, Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwanand other places, the flame tree is distributed. So in these southern regions,the flame flower has also become the school flower of many universities, such as Xiamen University, Shantou University, Hainan University and so on.

Cicadas sing, flame flowers bloom.

The flame tree grows on green campuses,

and also blooms in the hearts of countless graduates.

Image: Weibo @Weidu Meile

“Leaves like the feathers of a flying phoenix, flowers like the crest of a red phoenix.”

A tree full of flame flowers is like a phoenix crown and rosy bridal robe,

having walked through the crossroads where the flame trees bloom,

"Will you marry me~"

Image: Weibo @Huajian Xiyan

Yet even though the flamboyant tree flowers are so full of life and dazzlingly bright when they bloom, their flower language is "parting." The world really is full of paradoxes.

At Xiamen University, there is a popular saying: "The flamboyant tree blooms twice a year: one season the old students leave, one season the new students arrive.”

Bidding farewell to the flamboyant flowers,

Once we meet again, we'll be out in the wider world.

Without tattoos, we're still members of society now.

Just as Terry Lin sings in his song: "The river of time flows into the sea, and at last we go our separate ways. No harbor is a place to stay forever.In my mind there is a crossroads where the flamboyant flowers bloom, where my most cherished friends are."

The flamboyant flowers are like our youth, forever shining, never growing old.

It's once again the season when the flamboyant flowers bloom.May you laugh and drink three thousand rounds with your friends, without speaking of the sorrow of parting.。

Does your city have flamboyant flowers?

If it does, go and walk among them for me.

Even better if you bring along the person you've promised to meet.

Don't complain that summer is bitterly hot.

Flowers bloom again,

but a person is never young again.

END