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Gulmohar (flame tree)
गुलमोहर (gulmohar)
A wide, flat-crowned tree with feathery leaves that turns scarlet-orange for several weeks before the monsoon. Originally from Madagascar, now the defining street tree of several Indian cities.
How to recognise it
Fern-like doubly divided leaves, an umbrella crown, and long flat black pods that rattle on the tree through winter.
Where to see it
Kolkata
In Bengali the gulmohar is krishnachura, “Krishna's crest”. It is planted along Kolkata's roads in deliberate pairs with the yellow radhachura, and the two flower together through the hottest weeks.
The Maidan (in season) · Rabindra Sarobar (in season)
Mumbai
The gulmohar flowering in May, just before the rains break, is Mumbai's clearest seasonal marker: whole south-city avenues go scarlet at once.
Hanging Gardens & Kamala Nehru Park (in season) · Rani Baug (in season)