非尋常之春紅 – 大葉欖仁、大花紫薇、楓香 unusual spring colours – bangal almond, queen crape myrtle and sweet gum

2016 年本部落沒有寫「冬紅」，今冬特暖，落葉樹木週期紊亂。立春多日，到了二月下旬，楓香、大花紫薇、大葉欖仁落紅之象方定。

是因為天氣太暖和嗎？抑或植物也覺時季錯亂，遂施展渾身解數，以更艷麗色彩補償，今年遲來的冬紅更濃稠。很美，卻美得令人心亂。

this blog hasn’t featured any winter colour this past season. the reason is that we have experienced one of the warmest winters in history. deciduous trees did not shed leaves as their biological clocks were messed up. spring has come long, and some of these trees are finally changing colours lately.

is it due to compensation? these late colours are particularly sharp. it is astonishing but worrying at the same time.

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實在很喜歡大葉欖仁的葉，圓頭大巴掌，單片好看；一樹眾葉聚首，陽光在葉縫穿插樹冠，又是一幅圖畫。到樹葉變色的季節，樹冠頓成調色板，多彩映照。the leaves are my favorite in bengal almond’s various parts. they are big and love the round head. appreciate each blade of the leave by its own. but when so many of them are grouping on the crown the combination of shape and shades are amazing too; and when light seeps through the crown, it is simply breathtaking.

大葉紫薇或大花紫薇開花和落葉樣子很不一樣。開花時花朵大紫吐艷，一樹深綠，有如青春少艾。冬後樹葉變色，搖身橙紅，面貌變得剛勁。

queen crape myrtle has two different personalities in flowering and leaving seasons. when flowers bloom purple, the leaves are shining deep green, the tree looks gentle and like a pretty girl. then when the cold season comes, leaves start turning yellow and orange, the tree seems to appear stronger and solid.

今年的楓香紅似乎人氣稍弱，失去過去幾年的聲勢。但冷不防碰到這列馬路旁的楓香，紅得有點粉色，別有嬌氣。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sweet gum has attracted many hongkongers’ attention the past few winters. it has lost some momentum this past winter as the colour season did not come as expected. i also lost interest catching their colour season after a while. last week out of the blue, i found these pedestrian sweet gum shining pinkish red under the blue sky and i couldn’t stopped capturing them with my camera.

三種樹木是香港常見的，本部落也曾立文不止一次，文末列出從前的貼文，讓大家參閱更詳細描繪。

these three species are common in this city and this blog has featured each in the past. please check the listing at the bottom of this post if you would like to read some of these earlier writings.

大葉欖仁 bengal almond (terminalia catappa l.) – kingdom: plantae 植物界 | (unranked): angiosperms | (unranked): eudicots | (unranked): rosids | order: myrtales 桃金娘目 | family: combretaceae/ leadwood 使君子科 | genus: terminalia 欖仁樹屬| species: t. catappa 欖仁樹   (source: wiki)

大葉紫薇 queen crape myrtle – 植物界 plantae kingdom | 被子植物門 magnoliophyta division | 雙子葉植物綱 magnoliopsida class | 桃金娘目 myrtales order | 千屈菜科 lythraceae family | 紫薇屬 lagerstroemia genus | 種：大花紫薇 l. speciosa species

楓香 chinese sweet gum / formosan gum (liquidambar formosana) – kingdom: plantae 植物界 | (unranked): angiosperms被子植物 | (unranked): eudicots 真雙子葉植物 | order: saxifragales 虎耳草目 | family: altingiaceae 楓香科 | genus: liquidambar 楓香樹屬 | species: l. formosana 楓香樹   (source: wiki)

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過往三樹的專文 my previous posts on sweet gum: 《春綠楓香 oh lovely green sweet gum》《楓香開始紅 sweet gum starts wintering》、《楓香 sweet gum 2012.2.1》、《楓香 sweet gum 2012.1.18》、《楓香紅了 the colours of sweet gum》| 《大葉欖仁紅葉季節 red-leave season of bengal almond》| 《大葉紫薇 queen crape myrtle》
以往寫冬天色彩都在一月 this blog used to write about winter colours in janauary:《冬色 winter colours in jan 2013》、《彩葉季節 leaves-watching season》