A 110-year-old tree in Taitung County has blossomed for only the second time since 2003 after struggling due to an invasive wasp species.
The “Rueihe 100-year tree” (瑞和百年莿桐樹, an Erythrina variegata, known in English as a tiger’s claw or Indian coral tree) — the only one of its kind that is protected by the Taitung County Government — stands next to a shrine in Luye Township’s (鹿野) Rueihe Village (瑞和).
It has struggled to bloom due to erythrina gall wasps, which infest and kill plants in the Erythrina genus. The wasps were first discovered in Taiwan in late 2001 and have since spread across the nation.
Photo: CNA
They have killed many of Taiwan’s Erythrina variegata var. orientalis coral trees, which were once ubiquitous as street adornments in urban centers.
The coral tree in Rueihe is the only centenarian of its kind in low-lying areas of the county, local tree expert Chen Sheng-feng (陳正豐) said.
Its survival has not been without difficulties, with residents saying that wilted leaves and branches indicated it was on the brink of death several times.
However, it has refused to die, they said.
Its foliage, which always grows back, looks set to emerge this year in full bloom, they said.
A healthy member of the species blooms every year, but Rueihe’s has only done so once — in 2017 — in the past 20 years, residents said.
“I never thought the dying old tree could blossom again,” an 81-year-old woman who lives near the tree said on Friday.
The woman said she expected the tree to bloom this year after it began to sprout leaves last month.
The tree was already as big as it is now when she moved to Rueihe at age 17, she said, adding that hopefully the old tree would escape death’s call.
At the time, the tree was surrounded by weeds in what was a hunting area, she said.
Hunters would rest under the tree, she said, adding that a shrine to a land god was built under the tree and stands to this day.
Before it got sick, the tree bloomed every year and was covered in crimson flowers, making it look like a torch, the woman said.
The tree stopped blooming after wasps attacked it in 2003, said Han Kuan-yu (韓冠宇), an artist who works at Rueihe Railway Station.
Botanists and students nursed the tree back to health several years ago, Han said, adding that the fields it stands beside were believed to have helped keep it alive.
He sometimes introduces the tree to visitors to Rueihe, inviting them to touch it and listen to its story, he said.
With no botanists attending to the tree for the past few years, he had worried it would die, Han said, adding that he was surprised by its burst of life this year.
Hopefully, visitors would visit the tree and “cheer it up,” he added.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS