Friday, April 9, 2010

Poui

It's March... Not quite, it's April... so this is a few days late... But I promised that every year, you'll see this golden show in Miami. So here it is again:

The Poui is one of the very beautiful flowering trees that can be seen here as well as in Trinidad and Tobago, particularly when there are multiple trees in close proximity (in Trinidad.) It is native to Central and South America and some of the islands in the Lesser Antilles. In Trinidad, the yellow poui is also known as apamata and Gold Tree, however it has a variety of names in other parts of the world. In Mexico the tree is called amapa and in Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica it is called cortez. In Ecuador the trees are known as madera negra and in Peru, tahuari. lapacho negro is the name for the tree in Paraguay and Argentina; in Surinam, it is called greenheart, pau d'arco, taheebo, ipe roxo ; in Venezuela, flor amarillo; in Colombia, guayacan polvillo. Other commercial names for poui include Brazilian walnut and ironwood. While I don't know by what common name we call this tree here in Miami, its scientific name is Tabeuia serratifolia. To be truthful, I am not sure, because this could be Tabeuia chrysantha. No matter what it really is named, it's spectacularly beautiful.

Tabeuia

1 comment:

  1. It IS stunning...! I look forward to these blooms this time of year since I was a child... In fact, I noticed that they were a tad late in blooming this year, perhaps because of the cold weather these previous months...? Regardless, my father told me they are originally from Paraguay... Thanks for the photos!

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