I had to go out today and while driving along I noticed the many copperpod trees along the road we took. The city seemed to have plenty of them, same as the rain trees I have written about earlier.

Peltophorum pterocarpum or the copperpod is known by other names too, like yellow-flamboyant, yellow flametree, yellow poinciana as also yellow-flame. It is native to tropical southeastern Asia, but is found a lot everywhere in India, grown as an ornamental tree, along with the gulmohar (Delonix Regia) with its bright orange-red flowers, also a non-native tree which apparently came here all the way from Madagascar.

This is the time of the year when the ornamental trees in the city all wear crowns of yellow, red, pink and lavender blooms. But the road I took did not have any of the other colours. So that’s for another day.

©Shail Mohan 2022