7 News Belize

Mayflower Colors Belize In a Riot Of Pink
posted (April 29, 2016)

And in our last newscast for April, we celebrate the riot of pink that the Mayflower gives us at this time of year. Yes, the tree scientifically known as Tabebuia Rosea, and its wonderfully intense flowering period in April and May colours the Belizean landscape in varying tones from pink to purple, even fuschia sometimes. And it’s hard not to notice in the city where the otherwise dreary urban landscape is punctuated by this proliferation of pink.  And part of the beauty, is that it’ll all be gone in a few weeks, and that evanescence makes Mayflower-power even more special to behold.

So to indulge a little more in our Friday muse, we sought the professional view of Lascelle Tillett. He owns one of the longest established tour operating companies in Belize and he has learnt a lot about the majestic and surprisingly mysterious May-flower.

Lascelle Tillet - Owner, S&L Tours
"The genus name is Bignoniaceae and the Tabebuia rosea commonly called Mayflower. It originated in South America but now it’s very common in Central America and the West Indies. Its grows a lot for shade and the rare thing about it is most of the hardwood trees they drop all their leaves to save water so it can germinate and in the rainy season when its ready but this guy drops it leaves and put flowers out which is very rare because it should be de-seeding but it has flowers. It has a first blooming around February which is like a falls bloom and then end of April and May that’s the highest bloom it has."

Emanuel Pech
"Why is it blooming such a short time?"

Lascelle Tillet - Owner, S&L Tours
"The blooming come at a time when the tree is de-seeding because it does not have much water in the ground so it doesn't have the strength to hold on to it petals so that's the reason why it goes so fast and this will happen all through the month of May. Last year the weather was so undetermined, sometimes it was hot, rainy when it was supposed to be dry so the trees got confused and they were blooming different time of the year but this year they are right on target."

The plant will bloom again in June but not as intensely as it is now.




7 News for Friday, April 29th, 2016 from 7News Belize on Vimeo.

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