Cassia fistula or Golden shower tree.

Cassia fistula or Golden shower tree. This is a flowering tree of my youth.

When I was five, we moved down from a small town to Sibu. We lived in the Government quarters off Race Course Road. In the section across the road, there was this big tree. When it bloomed, it had big flowing sprays of yellow flowers. When the wind blew, the petals will drop to the ground. Sometimes, a whole spray will fall. This is why it is called a Golden Shower tree.

In Sarawak, the tropical weather meant an afternoon shower everyday. People did their laundry everyday and we didn't have driers or washing machines.

My sweet memories of this tree was my sister Margaret and I would jump across the creek when the wind blew so we could retrieve those sprays. We played brides using them as wedding bouquets. My mum would scream at us to help her bring the washing in before the rains came. We didn't listen, playing was more important to us.

I took this photo when I revisited Singapore last July. When I saw the tree in full bloom, I was so happy.

if I remember from when I was a kid, the pod is black, 1 and 1/2 inch diameter, 18 inches to 2 feet, lots of black smelly seeds. the pod itself is very hard



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