Singapore Sakura

Last week, the Cratoxylum formosum (Common name: Pink Mempat) was blooming in various places all over Singapore. It has been likened to the Sakura, because it blooms copiously and resembles the sakura bloom:

This was reported in The Sunday Times on 21 March.

Now, I had thought it was the Tabebuia Rosea (Common name: Trumpet Tree) that was blooming, since this was also a common tree planted in Singapore. The Trumpet tree often has a heavy flush of blooming after a dry period. It so happens that there were some growing right in front of the Health Sciences Authority, and I brought 2 colleagues to check them out, expecting them to be in bloom:
It turns out that they were not in full bloom, and some dead flowers were strewn on the ground. I suppose the microclimate of that particular area was somewhat different?

Last year, after a dry spell, there was a profusion of blooms, which were all strewn all over the ground:


I have frankly, never seen the Cratoxylum formosum (Common name: Pink Mempat) and had assumed all along, that the so-called "Singapore Sakura" was the Trumpet Tree. I would love to see the Pink Mempat for myself one day.