It looks just like the sonalu (golden shower) flower, with the same form and features. No settled name has been given to it yet, but some call the species "pink cassia", known in Bengali as golapi sonalu, or pink sonalu. The trees are now spreading widely across the country. They are as fragrant as they are beautiful, charming flower lovers as well as bees.

Pink sonalu, or sonail, is a striking medium-sized evergreen tree of tropical regions, known for its deep and light pink flowers. In the tropics it is usually found in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar, and in Bangladesh it is now planted for beautification. Because the trees grow fast, they reach medium size and start flowering within a few years of planting. They usually grow 30 to 40 feet tall.

The trees shed their leaves in mid-winter and are covered with young leaves as summer begins. Then clusters of pink flowers burst out along the branches. The flowers have five petals with yellow anthers in the centre. Though different in colour, they share many features of the local kanchan and the yellow sonalu. When the trees bloom they carry countless flowers, and their light scent and colour draw bees, butterflies and small birds. The leaves and the umbrella-like shape and form of the trees are also attractive.

Three of these trees have recently been seen beside the Shariatpur district model mosque. Planted in 2023 on the initiative of former Deputy Commissioner Parvez Hasan, they have flowered for the first time, and their beauty now shines. Many people are delighted to see such flowers for the first time.

Local resident Akash Mahmud said: "I have been seeing the new flowers for a few days while praying at the mosque. They smell sweet and are lovely. They look like our sonalu, but pink. The flowers have made the mosque grounds even more beautiful. It would be nice if such trees were planted beside every highway."

Maulana Mufti Mohammad Waliullah, imam and khatib of the district model mosque, said: "The trees were planted by the then deputy commissioner, Parvez Hasan, to beautify the mosque. When they were planted, he said they would bear beautiful, fragrant pink flowers. This year they have flowered. It is the first time I have seen this flower. Its fragrance matches its beauty, mashallah! I always look after the trees so that nobody damages the flowers. Their shade also keeps the mosque walkway cool."

Bedananda Haldar, head of the botany department at Madaripur Government College, said the tree is known as lal sonalu or bandorlathi. It belongs to the Fabaceae family and its scientific name is Cassia javanica. Native to South-East Asia, it is now found in tropical regions around the world. Because of its pink or deep red flowers, it is planted for beauty in gardens, along roadsides and on road medians. It is one of the rare and attractive flowers of the country, he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.