Shiuli flowers fallen on a dew-soaked morning make a beautiful sight. The shiuli is sometimes called the "tree of sorrow" because its flowers lose their brightness in daylight. The shiuli has not only enchanted poets; over the ages it has won countless admirers.

Many people also call the shiuli flower shefali. Its main feature is that it blooms at night and falls by morning, leaving behind its fragrance and a lingering trace. When a blend of red and yellow peeps like the sun from inside the white flower, the ground beneath the shiuli tree fills with the sweet light of the sun, and the whole morning becomes gentle and fresh.

Among the green leaves, each shiuli flower spreads the love of beauty. The buds then stretch awake, waiting for a new day.

Not only children but all people love the shiuli, and so do many bees and other birds. That is why they too crowd beneath the shiuli tree.

When the time of falling shiuli comes, it signals the last days of Sharat (autumn) and the arrival of Hemanta (late autumn). Just as it brings the call of Nabanna, the new-harvest festival, the shiuli flower also heralds the coming of winter.

Source: Banglanews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.