The flowers are like short tassels made up of tufts of silky, pink stamens. They grow on short stems in bunches near the ends of the branches, and cover the tree lightly during the spring and summer. They are followed by the thick, dark, pods, which hang on the tree until the following spring. Leaves are compound in structure, made up of opposite pairs of pointed leaflets which fold together in the late afternoon. The leaves fall in spring, and, together with the drift of falling flowers, which comes a little later, and the hail of old seed pods, give the Monkeypod the name of being the dirtiest of Hawaii’s trees. Owners who never finish sweeping up under them always remark, however, that the beauty of the giant tree is worth the trouble.
This tree is a legume, a native of Central America and the West Indies, where its native name is _zaman_, from which its scientific name is derived. (Plate IV)
BOTTLEBRUSH TREE _Callistemon lanceolatus De Candolle_
Long, cylindrical spikes of red flowers, very like the round brushes used to clean test tubes or bottles, have given its common name to this tree. The effect is created by tufts of red stamens. In most varieties the flower spikes grow upright, but on some, as shown on Plate IV, they hang in swaying pendants. Their color is a fine, pinkish red, which contrasts strikingly with the greyish green of the foliage. The latter is narrow, pointed and fine.
The tree belongs to the Myrtle family and is a native of Australia. It is not yet very common in Hawaii, but examples may be seen on the University of Hawaii campus near Dean Hall. (Plate IV)
JACARANDA _Jacaranda ovalifolia R. Brown_
Since blue is the rarest color in the flower world, a tree which is a mass of blue is something that will hardly be overlooked. Yet the rarity of the blue coloring in the Jacaranda is but little more important than the beauty of the tree as a whole. It becomes a large tree, with light grey bark, and is covered with foliage, each leaf of which is almost as attractive as a fern. These bipinnate leaves are symmetrical in form with many tiny leaflets. They usually fall in late winter and early spring, and the tree is bare for a short time.
The flowers, which appear in large, loose, clusters at the ends of the branches, are individually shaped like bells, with two lips, one with two lobes, the other with three. Their color is a soft, lavender blue. The blossoming period is erratic, varying from midwinter to early autumn, but on the whole it is most conspicuous in spring. On individual trees, this blooming period is not very long, but different trees vary as to the season when the flowers appear, so that one may usually be found in flower. The blossoms fall in masses, repeating their color on the ground like a reflection of the tree above.