It has been a harsh dry season [1] in Trinidad and Tobago [2], with a high occurrence of bush fires [3] that have left hillsides throughout the country shriveled and scarred.
Still, the jewels of the dry season, the pink and yellow Poui trees [4], continue to shine, offering a last burst of splendour as the entire country looks forward to the rains – and with it, the rebirth of green mountains – hopefully without denudation contributing to the kind of flooding [5] that has paralyzed [6] the country in the past.
Poui Tree: Image by Flickr user Humberto GE, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic CC license.
Yellow Poui: Image by Flickr user Georgia Popplewell, who notes: “The flowering of the yellow poui normally signals the end of the dry season, but who knows what the weather's really up to these days?” CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
In Trinidad and Tobago, the blooming of the Pouis is as culturally significant as the cherry blossoms in Japan [7]. People often head to the Queen's Park Savannah [8] in Port of Spain [9] to picnic under the trees, spreading their blankets on the carpet of fallen flowers.
Poui Carpet: Image by Flickr user janinephoto, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic CC license.
Pink Poui Blossoms: Image by Flickr user janinephoto, used under an an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic CC license.
Cherry Poui; Image by Flickr user janinephoto, used under an an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic CC license.
At Easter [10], it is traditional to go kite-flying: the sight of scores of colourful kites dancing against a backdrop of Poui trees is as Trinidadian as cricket [11] teams playing friendly weekend matches, seemingly being cheered on by the swaying of the Pouis’ branches.
Kites and Poui Trees: Image by Nicholas Laughlin, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic CC license.
Poui Flare: Image by Flickr user janinephoto, used under an an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic CC license.
Pouis bloom on hillsides across the country, in both urban and rural areas. The photo below, of a yellow Poui tree that is host to a family of bromeliads [12], was taken in the Village of Matelot, along Trinidad's north-east coast.
Matelot Poui: Image by Flickr user Nicholas Laughlin, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic CC license.
The stunning flowering of the Pouis is an annual reminder of hope and renewal, the closest thing to springtime in the Caribbean.