“It’s Bloomin’ Time!”

That is likely what the recently-imagined ‘Flower Rangers’ would have said, much like their ‘Power Rangers’ counterparts and their famous battle cry.

Coming back to reality, at the moment it’s not hard to ‘imagine that you’re in Japan’ as you pass by some of them along the streets in Penang.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) even made it into the list from a website, with its Top 20 list of locations to spot the ‘sakura’ trees on the mainland as well as on Penang island.

Ten such trees can be found on the USM Main Campus grounds. There are ‘sakura’ trees too at the USM Engineering Campus in Seri Ampangan, Nibong Tebal on the mainland.

At times, there will be the Instagram-friendly ‘Flower Rangers’ groups to capture the moments with the ‘sakura’ trees.

Commonly referred to as ‘sakura’ trees, they are actually Tecoma trees, also known as trumpet bushes or ‘tissue paper trees’, which originally came from the Caribbean and South and Central America. They can now be found in other countries too.

Tecoma trees will start flowering  whenever there is a temperature change. They will start to bloom after a rainy period, when the dry and hot season arrives.

In Penang, normally there will be rain from the end of November or early December, to be followed by a dry period until the end of February.

They bloom for approximately 2 weeks due to the dry season in Malaysia. This is the time when they become trending in social media and the choice of photograph materials, and at no expense of course.

KL, Kedah, Penang, Langkawi, Melaka and Johore are other states in the country where Tecoma trees can be found as well.

Research from Navas (2007) and Phillips (2015)  have claimed that parts of the trees have curative properties too, although there are countries which do not legalise them as part of the ingredients in medication.

The trees are planted in a majority of parks and along the streets in Malaysia.

When they reach full bloom in March, that is when ‘sakura’ season comes to Malaysia.

While not exactly part of the country’s ‘Look East’ policy, the ‘sakura-look-alike’ trees have made their mark with their beauty here in USM and elsewhere, with their own ‘power’ to attract and captivate the locals and giving a ‘cheery’ mood to the surroundings.

Text: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin/Foto: Ebrahim Abdul Manan