STOP! Smell the ... Angsana! Yes, its April and that's when these majestic huge angsana trees bloom. The top picture was taken just outside my window. The white building in the foreground is the Dewan Kuliah A, B, C Complex.
You have to be really quick though. The flowers last for only 3 or 4 days and when the flowers drop, its like snow falling and the ground is a lovely carpet of yellow. USM has numerous angsana trees around the Museum/Rest House area, the School of Social Science, HBP, Pharmacy and at the Minden Padang. You will also find a row of angsana trees along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, the main road in front of the Padang. One thing about the angsana, they don't all bloom at the same time. One book I read says that if you want all the angsana trees to bloom at the same time then you have to plant cuttings from the same tree.
You will also find these huge trees in various parts of Penang Island, especially along the road leading to the Botanical Gardens. The sad thing is that the local authorities have the habit of lopping off the entire crown and let the tree grow back. Apart from being esthetically ugly, this is not a good practice because the new branches which grows out will be weak at the joints and more liable to break.
The picture below was taken at the Social Science area. Lucky chaps. Lucky me too, now that my office is right next door. Quick. Go smell the roses ... eh, angsana.
p.s. if you have noticed that the photos don't look so good, you are right. My apologies, I am testing out a compact Lumix and it doesn't seem to be behaving well. Or perhaps I have lost my touch?
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