The Gulmohar We Think We Know

Every summer, Ahmedabad gets a little more colourful.

Gulmohar trees line roads, campuses, housing societies and older neighbourhoods, and their bright red-orange flowers are so familiar that they feel like a natural part of the city.

But Gulmohar (Delonix regia) is actually native to Madagascar, not India. That does not mean it is a “bad” tree. It simply shows how easily we can confuse something that is familiar with something that is native.

The same is true for Pilo Gulmohar, also known as Copperpod or Yellow Flame Tree (Peltophorum pterocarpum). Its yellow flowers are common along roads and landscaped spaces, and in Gujarat it is widely known as Pilo Gulmohar.

Both trees have become part of the visual identity of our streets, even though their ecological stories began elsewhere.

Plants move with people. We bring them for shade, beauty, food, timber and landscaping. Some remain where they are planted. Some establish themselves more widely. A few can spread aggressively and begin changing the ecology around them.

That is why knowing where a plant comes from matters. The next time you are standing under a Gulmohar in Ahmedabad, look at the trees around you and ask yourself:

How many of them actually belong to this landscape, and how many have simply become familiar over time?

Ekatra is a place to explore those stories and understand the plants that shape the city around us.