in praise of Saman trees

Vinyasa

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Dec 22, 2010
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Samans are a truly beautiful tree at any time of year, but right now they are in their pomp! In bloom, they are covered in thousands of small pink flowers....simply stunning.

They remind me of West Africa where I once lived and I have even heard that they were initially brought from Africa...any truth in this?
 

Drake

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Jan 1, 2002
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Samans are a truly beautiful tree at any time of year, but right now they are in their pomp! In bloom, they are covered in thousands of small pink flowers....simply stunning.

They remind me of West Africa where I once lived and I have even heard that they were initially brought from Africa...any truth in this?



Saman trees also known as rain trees are one of my favorite trees.  Their leaves are nitrogen fixing so they act as fertilizer and grass grows well under their shady cap. Pink flowers are spectacular. They only thing is they grow massive so they are not for everyones garden. I know someone who milled a massive fallen one and used the wood to make stairs, floors cupboards For his house. Beautiful wood.
 

tflea

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Trees

There's a Canadian guy, in east Cabarete who does some beautiful tables and other furniture from saman wood. Los Vecinos, each Saturday morning, like a garage sale style. Talk to Les. Good breakfast sandwiches too. A bit pricey on the tables, but will last a lifetime, and heavy as hell. Totally agree on saman's beauty. Not to forget the now early blooming amapolas, also stunning....see at Playa Dorada, hole #10 fairway, and sprinkled around elsewhere on the course, or take a drive through Haciendas El Choco in the coming weeks. Beautiful time of year in the DR.
 
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pgolivares

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Apr 9, 2010
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Samans are a truly beautiful tree at any time of year, but right now they are in their pomp! In bloom, they are covered in thousands of small pink flowers....simply stunning.

They remind me of West Africa where I once lived and I have even heard that they were initially brought from Africa...any truth in this?



"Albizia saman (sometimes treated under the obsolete name Samanea saman) is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Neotropics. Its range extends from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil, but it has been widely introduced to South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands, including Hawaii." Wikipedia 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albizia_saman

Up until recently I thought that the saman tree was the DR national tree. They are bestiful specially when they are in full bloom.  
 

Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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As of 2011 the national tree is the mahogany tree (caoba).


I haven't seen a saman tree in bloom and don't recall seeing one any other time either. I have seen a hillside of those trees with all the red flowers, whose name I know but escapes me this early in the morning. Flamboyant or something like that.
 

bob saunders

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As of 2011 the national tree is the mahogany tree (caoba).


I haven't seen a saman tree in bloom and don't recall seeing one any other time either. I have seen a hillside of those trees with all the red flowers, whose name I know but escapes me this early in the morning. Flamboyant or something like that.

Not as many Saman trees as Flamboyant but plenty of Amapola ( African Tulip) trees throught the country. All are very pretty.
 

pgolivares

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As of 2011 the national tree is the mahogany tree (caoba).


I haven't seen a saman tree in bloom and don't recall seeing one any other time either. I have seen a hillside of those trees with all the red flowers, whose name I know but escapes me this early in the morning. Flamboyant or something like that.



Really!?!  You have to see them full of pink-readish flowers. Beautiful! just beautiful. 
 

Cdn_Gringo

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I remember being dragged as a kid to see the the apple/cherry blossoms in the spring and of course the fall leaves. I'd go have a look at blooming Saman trees if there was a bunch of them sort of close by and accessible.
 

bob saunders

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I remember being dragged as a kid to see the the apple/cherry blossoms in the spring and of course the fall leaves. I'd go have a look at blooming Saman trees if there was a bunch of them sort of close by and accessible.

Here in Jarabacoa they are scattered around, but several places in the Campo have them lined up along the roadside but certainly there are more Flamboyant and Amapola trees. Amapola are huge stately trees, compare to the others.
 

Vinyasa

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Dec 22, 2010
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I remember being dragged as a kid to see the the apple/cherry blossoms in the spring and of course the fall leaves. I'd go have a look at blooming Saman trees if there was a bunch of them sort of close by and accessible.



Maybe its a north coast thing, but you cant move for Samans here.
The flamboyans seem more plentiful, but maybe because they have been planted along the roads here. 
 

Cdn_Gringo

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I was incorrectly introduced to the Spathodea as being the Flamoyan. Darn you DR1, now I have to unlearn something...
 

dv8

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they flower at the same time but look very different. i will take pics tomorrow walking the doggies and post as example.
 

Vinyasa

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they flower at the same time but look very different. i will take pics tomorrow walking the doggies and post as example.



Im not sure they do flower at the same time. Amapola's have already flowered, whilst the flamboyans flower in the summer. 
The road from Gaspar Hernandez up to La Cumbre (Tenares) is a fantastic drive when the amapolas are in bloom. I have a couple of photos of the amapolas in bloom here dated 19 feb. Sadly I have never quite managed to work out how to post photos on this site :(
 

dv8

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we have both of those trees in costambar and both are in bloom right now. amapola almost on the way out and flamboyan just starting - some trees are full of flowers and some still bare. maybe the exact time depends on weather conditions, type of soil and other environmental factors?
 

Drake

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Saman trees are planted usually in cattle pasture lots. So unless you are in a region where they raise cattle then you probably will not see too many.