India GO
Pink trumpet tree in Bengaluru: the city's 'cherry blossom'
Tabebuia rosea
The pink trees that turn Bengaluru's avenues pale pink in late winter are not cherries but pink trumpet trees, Tabebuia rosea, from Central and South America. The bloom usually falls in February and March and lasts two or three weeks, with the exact weeks shifting from year to year. Look along the avenues and park edges where the planting is densest, including Cubbon Park and Lalbagh.
The tree behind Bengaluru's so-called cherry blossom season, when for two or three weeks in late winter whole streets turn pale pink. The avenue planting came out of the Mysore horticulture department's nineteenth and twentieth century experiments; the pink streets are an accident of that programme, not a native season.
Where to see it
Cubbon Park · in season
Lalbagh Botanical Garden · in season
👀 How to recognise it
Trumpet-shaped flowers in dense clusters on bare branches, and a pink carpet on the pavement below. It is not a cherry and not related to one - it comes from Central and South America.
When the city turns pink
The season is short and slightly unpredictable. In the guide's notes for Bengaluru the bloom comes in February and March and lasts two or three weeks, and which weeks those are varies from year to year. The flowers open while the tree has few or no leaves, and the fallen trumpets leave a pink carpet on the pavement below.
Because the window is narrow and moves, a trip planned around it needs a little slack in the dates. In the guide's season notes February is one of Bengaluru's best months and March a good one; the city is at its driest from November to February.
Where to look
The densest colour is on certain avenues and along the edges of parks, where the trees were planted in rows. Inside the parks, the two easy places to start are Cubbon Park and Lalbagh Botanical Garden; both are in the centre of Bengaluru.
Out of season the tree is easy to overlook. Then the leaves give it away: each is made of five leaflets of different sizes, the middle one the largest. Later come long, slender seed capsules up to 35 cm, which split to release seeds with thin, membrane-like wings.
Not a cherry, and not from here
The nickname cherry blossom is borrowed: the flowers are trumpet-shaped, unlike a cherry's. Tabebuia rosea is native from southern Mexico to Venezuela and Ecuador; in its homeland it flowers mainly in January and February, usually in dry periods, when the tree has few or no leaves. The same tree has a following elsewhere too: in Malaysia it is nicknamed Sakura Malaysia, and in El Salvador it is the national tree.
According to the India GO guide, Bengaluru's avenue planting came out of the Mysore horticulture department's experiments in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the pink streets are a side effect of that programme rather than a native season. In Kannada the tree is called gulabi tabebuya, the pink tabebuia.
More trees of Bengaluru
The species page on the pink trumpet tree has the full description. The other great planted tree of the old avenues is the rain tree, and the full list is on trees and flowers of Bengaluru.
❓ FAQ
What is the name of the pink flower tree in Bangalore?
The pink trumpet tree, Tabebuia rosea. It is often called Bangalore's cherry blossom, but it is not related to cherries.
When do the pink trees bloom in Bangalore?
Usually in February and March, for two or three weeks. The exact weeks vary from year to year.
Is Tabebuia rosea native to India?
No. It is native from southern Mexico to Venezuela and Ecuador and was planted in Bengaluru as an avenue tree.
Where can I see the pink trees in Bangalore?
Along the avenues and park edges where the planting is densest, and in Cubbon Park and Lalbagh Botanical Garden.