Come April, this unlikely ‘property owner’ at D’Silva Road hogs all the attention

It’s blooming season in Chennai and many trees are in full bloom with flowers forming a carpet

A rosy trumpet tree (tabebuia rosea) has ensconced itself in a piece of earth on D’Silva Road in Mylapore. That is an unlikely address now for this species, as in this day and age, native species are populating the roadsides, and rightly so. However, the tree draws admiration for how it has come to own the patch, even lording over its precincts.

Over the course of last week, the tree was noticeably in bloom, advertising its capacity for prodigious flowering. The surrounding landscape was matted with its trumpet-shaped, rose-coloured flowers.

The tree nestles close to an apartment — Tan Homes — and on April 13, the gardener-housekeeper was on his toes, a broom in each hand, working feverishly to clear a profusion of rosy-trumpet flowers lying within the premises.

The tree is at home in this space; but in truth, far from home. It belongs to the neotropics, a biodiversity realm defined by the South American landmass. It is genetically programmed to live in temperatures ranging from 20 C to 30 C. And here it is, standing erect and proud in a blistering cauldron that clears 40 degree Celsius comfortably without breaking into a sweat.

M Yuvan, naturalist and author of A Naturalist’s Journal, remarks trees have more intelligence than they are often credited with.

This tabebuia rosea has adapted itself to local weather conditions.

This tree might be doing well for itself, but trees from other biodiversity realms (there are altogether eight of them across the globe) are generally on a sticky wicket.