Flower (Photos) The Golden Trumpet Trees in Okinawa, Japan

Here are some photos I shot over the past two days in Okinawa, Japan. These bright yellow flowers are popping out all over the trees lining the highways. The hard part, for me, is nailing down the correct scientific name.

To give an idea what one of the trees looks like I went wide-angle and shot this one from across the road. That proves it isn't taller than a two-story house. And almost got me run over by a dump truck, too.

This shot I made to show the tree has some leaves on it. Some of the rocket scientists claim this Golden Trumpet Tree never gets any leaves, just flowers.

For people who are really into looking closer at the leaves, I zoomed in a little closer for you. If it would be of any help for me to go back and eat some of the leaves so, you know what they taste like, let me know.  But, first, tell me they aren't poison. I'm trying to lower my poison intake. OK?

Whatever these things are, I'd like to know the exact scientific name. I'm leaning towards calling it the Golden Trumpet Tree (Tabebuia caraiba) but, not sure.

Mrs. RyukyuMike says the trees came from Brazil. She thinks she knows everything, you know. But, she doesn't know Latin. She did come up with the word, Ipe. That's what they call these trees over here.

So, armed with the words, Ipe, Tree, Brazil, Flower and Okinawa, Japan I searched for a few hours last night.

Now, I know we have Golden Trumpet Trees. There must be a hundred different kinds of them. Some people claim they grow 120 feet tall, have no leaves, make great hardwood furniture, boardwalks and all kinds of stuff.

Who knows?  These trees may have discovered America, too!
You can say anything you want on the internet. I think it's an unwritten international law.

After you look at these Golden Trumpet Tree photos, if you know your flowers and happen to know the correct scientific name for the ones in Okinawa, Japan holler back at me. OK?

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE PINK TRUMPETS?

Golden Trumpet Trees Blooming in Okinawa and Some Bark

Ever Wonder What Those Bright Yellow Flowers Are ?

 

 

In this part of the world, we just call them Ipe.

The common name would be Golden Trumpet, for the trees and flowers.

Scientists, seem to disagree, over what to call them.

Not especially qualified to argue with science-types, here's what I did.

Running around with a camera, I made random images of the things.

Maybe, we could call it a random act of kindness, for the scientific community.

They don't pay me for doing this stuff but, I have lots of fun.

A closer look at the tree trunk and bark, might help clear things up.

 The clusters of leaves may help in identification, too.

 University of Florida, calls them: Tabebuia chrysotricha

Pacific Horticulture Society, says they are:  Handroanthus chrysotrichus

Another Type of Bark Encountered 

What makes this type of work fun, is some of the crazy things that happen along the way.

This farmer's dog, didn't like the idea of me being in the area.

So, he came running after me, barking.

That's when the mad scientist, in me came out.

  

It took a little growling and barking, back at him, to scare him off.

Then, he stayed on his side of the fence and, I stayed on mine.

Hopefully, those scientists will come to an agreement, soon.

Because next, I want to shoot some Pink and Purple Trumpets.

They probably, won't agree on what to call them, either.

Related Post:

Flower Photos: The Golden Trumpet Trees in Okinawa

Flower and Tree (Photos) Golden and Pink Trumpets in Okinawa, Japan

This gets better all the time. Just as soon as my head cleared from researching those Golden Trumpet Trees another breed of them started popping out of the tree branches. Only these ones are PINK !

The wife told me about them. She said they were Ipe Trees and told me where she spotted them. So, first thing I did was harness up three dogs and hiked down the road without a camera, just to have a look.

The pink flowers I saw were growing right near some other trees that had Golden Trumpets on them.  They were across the highway from me.  Between the traffic and some construction going on along the highway, I decided, I wasn't running across the street to look any closer. The pink flowers looked too small to be Ipe tree flowers, to me.

So, I went home and did what any respectable man does.  I told the wife she's nuts.

"They ain't Ipe flowers and they ain't even close to being Ipe trees. They're different, Hah !"

Well, it was International Women's Day yesterday so, I decided we'd go on a little romantic walk.

That way, she could take her dog and I'd only have the two Huskies, of mine, to walk.

Plus, I could show her women ain't as smart as men, when it comes to looking at trees. Hah, again !

Well, sonovagun, when you get close enough to see the little pink things they are just like the yellow ones, only smaller.

Today, I went back and took photos so you can see for yourself.  I wish I could have climbed up in the trees and grabbed a few of each.  That way I could get them out of the wind and place them side by side for a better comparison.  If only there weren't so many construction people watching.

The pink flowered trees have larger leaves than the yellow ones.  Even the wife agrees with me on that.

Most of the leaves on the Golden Trumpets have blown away so, what you see in these photos are the pink flower's leaves.

In my never ending quest for truth, I found THIS ON WIKIPEDIA so, I guess it's safe to call the trees TABEBUIA . They are definitely Ipe Trees.

It sure would be nice to know what the scientific name is, though. I bet the Pink Trumpets and Golden Trumpets have different names. There has to be some way to convince the wife she was wrong.

Maybe we'll just have to go back under the cover of darkness.  I'll hold the ladder and send the wife up to snatch some branches of the Golden and the Pink Trumpet Trees.

If we happen to get caught, I bet the judge knows the Latin names for those flowering trees!

Springtime Flowers to Look for in Okinawa, Japan (Photos)

It'll be Spring this time next week so, here are a few flowers I'll be looking forward to seeing.

The first photo, a Golden Trumpet or, Tabebuia caraiba was taken March 5, 2011.

They are a tad late blooming this year but, should be in full bloom shortly.

One of my favorite flowers, the Purple Iris, is the next one to watch.  They can be tricky.

April 2d, last year, I went to shoot photos of the iris fields in a place called Ogimi.

If you go looking for these flowers too early, you might as well just take photos of a green onion field.

Not wanting to waste a day of camera shooting, I was lucky to find some Cosmos.

These flower photos were taken April 2, 2011. 

See, we have Cosmos and an Iris field that looks like green onions.

Another cameraman went to shoot the Iris Fields and didn't want to waste the day.

He got the same bright idea and went shooting Cosmos.

So, I shot him, too.



A week later (March 9, 2011) I went back to Ogimi and found what I was looking for.

The place was full of those bright Purple Iris flowers, blooming in the sun.

That guy in the yellow shirt with a great big zoom lens on his Canon, crawled right into the field for a close up.

So, I shot him, too.

Another, very important flower to look for in Springtime on Okinawa is the world famous

Easter Lily

The above photo was taken April 27, 2011 in the wife's garden.

They have A MILLION LILY FESTIVAL every year April/May time-frame on an island named

IeShima


You just have to keep watching the news to find out exactly when in Springtime everything is ready for your camera if you want to look for flowers in Okinawa, Japan.


I'll do my best to keep you posted but, I ain't so sure about going the the IeShima Lily Festival this year.  Somebody gave me a black eye last time I went there !

Get more info on Okinawa's flowers in TREES, FLOWERS, FERNS