Blooming brown parashorea flowers, spinning like a pinwheel in the middle of Saigon
May, during the season of the moha flower. The flowers turn from bright green to brown and meet a gentle
Cho nau (Dipterocarpus retusus) – winged seeds that twirl to the ground from treetops – blanketing downtown sidewalks is an annual reminder to Saigon residents that the weather is heating up and the rainy season is approaching.
Cho nau can be found along many streets across the city, but Pham Ngoc Thach, Le Quy Don, and Le Duan streets in District 1 and District 3 are home to the densest population of these beautiful trees.
Every April, these trees begin to grow seeds.
As the weather heats up at the beginning of May, the ‘wings’ attached to the seed turn brown and they spin to the ground like helicopter propellers.
As the seeds disperse en masse in the wind, the streets of Saigon, which is the old yet popular name of Ho Chi Minh City, appear to become a romantic wonderland.
“I have cho nau in my hometown, but not as many as here,” said Nguyen Thi Ngoc, a local pedestrian.
“It is very relaxing to watch the seeds fall.
"It brings me back to my childhood.”
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