Flamboyant Ashkelon

Anyone visiting Ashkelon over the short winter months will notice thousands of deciduous trees, with dried out bean pods, empty of almost all leaves. But by springtime, they explode in a blaze of color. With thousands of Flamboyant trees in Ashkelon, they transform the city into a color-filled landscape that is unique to Ashkelon.

The tree’s scientific name is Delonix regia or Poinciana regi, but is commonly called a Flamboyant tree or Royal Poinciana (Hebrew: צאלון נאה). The tree is native to Madagascar and has been introduced into tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide. In the wild it is endangered, but it is widely cultivated elsewhere and is regarded as naturalized in many of the locations where it is grown. In Israel, Gad Sobel, an historian living in Ashkelon explains that the first Flamboyant tree was planted in Sarona by the Templars and has been sold in nurseries ever since.

They carry the name flamboyant for good reason. Their flowers are large, with four spreading scarlet or orange-red petals up to 8 cm (3 in) long, and a fifth upright petal called the standard, which is slightly larger and spotted with yellow and white.

Earlier this year, the city opened a new Northern entrance to the city, which is now lined with kilometers of Flamboyant trees. When the trees mature and fill out with flowers, the path into the city will be spectacular.

The Flamboyant trees are just one of the many details that the city introduced to make Ashkelon a beautiful city.