The Flower Language and Culture of Phoenix Flower

The Flower Language of Phoenix Flower

The flower language of Poinciana is separation, longing and fiery youth.

Legend of Phoenix Flower

Xiamen has an ancient and beautiful legend: a long time ago, there was no grass here and it was deserted. A group of egrets flew here on their way back from the south and stopped on the shore to rest. The leading great egret found that there were schools of fish and shrimps in the water and there was plenty of food. There was no threat from poisonous snakes or ferocious beasts, nor was there any harassment from hunters' bows and arrows. So it fell in love with this island and led the group of egrets to settle down.

The egrets also began to decorate their homes. The island is full of blooming flowers and lush green grass. The beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers and the clusters of flowers attract many birds to build nests; bees and butterflies also come to collect pollen. Suddenly, the island becomes lively and colorful.

This scene made the Snake King lurking under the sea of ​​the East China Sea extremely jealous. He wanted to occupy the beautiful island built by the egret, so he led the snake demons to stir up trouble. In an instant, sand and rocks flew all over the island, and the sky was dark. In order to defend its home, the egret fought a desperate battle with the snake demon.

The leading heron severely injured the snake king and drove away the snake demon, but it itself was also seriously injured and lay in a pool of blood. Later, on the land where the egret had shed its blood, a tall and straight tree grew. The leaves of the tree were spread out like the egret, and the flowers of the tree were as red as the blood of the egret. People call this tree the Delonix regia; people call this flower the Delonix flower.

Cultural Background of Delonix regia

The Delonix regia tree is named after its “leaves are like the wings of a flying phoenix, and its flowers are like the crown of a red phoenix”.

The Delonix regia is the national tree of the Republic of Madagascar in Africa, the city flower of Shantou City in Guangdong, China, the city tree of Xiamen City in Fujian, Tainan City in Taiwan, and Panzhihua City in Sichuan.

In Taiwan, where it was introduced in 1897, the Delonix regia is often listed with the chirping of cicadas as a symbol of graduation because of its massive flowering in June.

The poinciana is the city flower of Tainan City in Taiwan, as it matches its nickname "Phoenix City"; National Cheng Kung University uses the phoenix as its school flower.

Delonix regia is the city tree of Xiamen, Fujian Province, mainland China. Xiamen University uses Phoenix as its school belle.

The Delonix regia is also known as the "Golden Phoenix Flower" in Shantou and is also the city flower of Shantou.

The Phoenix tree was once the city tree of Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province. However, due to severe looper disasters in the mid-to-late 1990s, the Phoenix tree was cut down in large numbers and was later replaced by the Panzhihua tree.