A carpet of yellow that lights up the dry zone
This is a quick-growing, common tree of the dry zone, often planted along roadsides as an ornamental tree. During the flowering season, these trees flower profusely and during that period, fallen flowers form yellow carpets under these trees. You may see this tree in bloom around you now.
The flowers are about 3 cm in diameter and bright yellow, arranged in upright clusters and borne on the tips of branches. The petals are crinkly and look as if they are made from crêpe paper. The flower buds look like brown spheres. (This tree is easily distinguished from Ehela/ Thirukkondrai because the yellow of the flowers is darker and the clusters do not droop.)
During the flowering season, this tree is a riot of yellow flowers. When the pods appear, the foliage looks burnished because of the colour of the pods. Pix by Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala (left) and Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne
The foliage is thick and the leaves are divided into dark green leaflets, which are smaller than the rain tree’s but larger than the flamboyant’s. The bark is dark brown and furrowed. The fruits are small, rust-coloured pods, apparently said to look like shields, hence the common names. The word Peltophorum comes from the Greek words pelte (shield) and phoreo (to bear), collectively meaning ‘shield-bearer’. When the tree is in fruit and the sunlight falls on it, the foliage looks burnished because of the colour of these pods.
In Sri Lanka, the main use of this tree is as an ornamental but in other countries, the wood is used for making furniture. This tree is native to South and Southeast Asia.
Extracted from ‘What tree is that? The Ruk Rakaganno Layperson’s Guide to Some Trees of Sri Lanka’. Updated by the author using ‘Grown in Sri Lanka: cultivated flowering plants’ by Sriyanie Miththapala, Janaki Galappatti, and Siril Wijesundara (2015). The National Trust: Colombo.
| Peltophorum pterocarpum Common English name: Yellow flame/ Rusty shield bearer/ Copperpod Family: Fabaceae (The bean family) (Sinhala name: Kaha mara; Tamil name: Nilal vahai/Manjal vahai) | |
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