Pakistan Gardening Forum

these are pix of Royal_Poinciana/Gul mohar /Delonix regia trees i googled..i heard their fragrance is longlasting for months more than any other blooming fragrant tree ..are these available in Pakistan

Delonix regia is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It is noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of flowers. In many tropical parts of the world it is grown as an ornamental tree and in English it is given the name Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant. It is also one of several trees known as Flame tree.
In India it is known as Gulmohar گل مور or گلمور (Hindi and Urdu -‘Gul’ means ‘Flower’ and ‘Mohr’ is 'coin or stamp'.also "Gul" means flower and "Mor" means "Peacock". which seems to be most close to physical appearance and beauty of this tree.It is also known there as Krishnachura (Bengali: 'crown of the Lord Krishna). In Vietnamese it is known as Phượng vĩ (means "Phoenix's Tail) (Vietnamese), Malinche, and Tabachine. In Guatemala, Antigua Guatemala, it is known as "Llama del Bosque".

Geographical growth range

Delonix regia is endemic to the western forests of Madagascar, but has been introduced into tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide. In the continental United States, it grows in South Florida, Southwest Florida, the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, ranging from the low deserts of Southern Arizona (to as high as Tucson), and Southern California. It also grows in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, where it is the official tree of the islands. It is much loved in the Caribbean; for example, many Dominican & Puerto Rican paintings feature Flamboyant Trees, it can also be found in The Bahamas as well. The Poinciana is also the national flower of St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Royal Poinciana is regarded as naturalised in many of the locations where it is grown. It is a popular street tree in the suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The tree is also found in India and Pakistan, where it is referred to as the Gulmohar, or Gul Mohr. In West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh it is called Krishnachura.
The town of Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, located about 12 miles west of Ponce, is nicknamed "El Valle de los Flamboyanes" ("The Valley of the Poinciana Trees"), as many Flamboyant trees are found along the surrounding Río Guyanes, Río Macana, and Río Tallaboa Rivers.
In Vietnam, this tree is called "Phượng vỹ", or phoenix's tail, and is a popular urban tree in much of Vietnam. Its flowering season is May - July, which coincides with the end of the school year in Vietnam. Because of this timing, the flower of Poinciana is sometimes called the "flower of pupil". Hai Phong city is nicknamed "Thành phố hoa phượng đỏ" ("City of red Poinciana").

Flowering season

South Florida: May–June
Egypt: May-June
Vietnam: May–July
Caribbean: May–September
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: April–June
Australia: December–February
Northern Mariana Islands: March–June
United Arab
Brazil: November–February
Southern Sudan: March–May
Thailand: April–May
Zimbabwe: October–December
Hong Kong: May-June

Delonix regia is abundant in Karachi. It is a delicate tree which will not survive cold winds even that of Islamabad. It is indeed one of the most beautiful trees of the world. However the flower have NO fragrance at all. As a crude rule- flowers which are very showy/ brightly coloured do not have a powerful fragrance because they do not rely on frangrance to attract insects for pollination.

However you can grow Bauhinias of the same family which are extremely beautiful and mildly fragrant as well.

Regards,

Farooq

Delonix regia Blooming in Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Karachi. Farooq is right, flowers have no fragrance at all.

This tree plants are available at Islamabad nurseries in summer months.the reason is very simple,they can not tolerate frost or even slight drop in temps.this beautiful tree comes really from Africa & has no fragrance.its very fit at Karachi but sorry to say not at Islamabad.
i have seen this tree at Sokoto,Nigeria & Karachi.both frost free cities.

I planted three, none survived, last died having grown to 10 feet. even mature trees are dieing in Lahore. Climatic changes?

Atif sb you see this tree growing outside people houses in Lahore too but it definitely has no fragrance.

Muhammad Arif Khan wrote:I planted three, none survived, last died having grown to 10 feet. even mature trees are dieing in Lahore. Climatic changes?

If i am correct, the winter is becoming more and more less cold in lahore. The winter which used to be 10 years ago was very cold as compared to recent years. Perhaps you are in better position to conform that.

The wild yellow cassia alata dies down every winter but comes back in summer and it is wild in lahore same with wild datura. So i think the cruel winter might not be the case.

although this may become off-topic but Karachi is becoming colder too..

Even when this 'Flamboyant' isn't really fragrant, I find your description very interesting. Just another localities I want to mention, they are growing in Sri Lanka and in Bhutan as well.

For the last two months I have unsuccessfully scoured all the nurseries around Jhelum, Kharian, mirpur and Gujarat looking for this tree to plant in our new garden.

Seems its not a popular tree to keep around here, now I understand why but nevertheless I am going to give it another try by ordering from patoki nurseries albeit the Mali will have to collect as I'm currently back in the uk

Regards
Ifzal