a little sleuthing

Sometimes I take a picture of a plant or flower and wonder what it is afterwards.

Having grown up in Hawaii, there are a lot of plants and flowers in Japan that I've never seen before.

If there is a sign with the name of the plant or flower, then I usually use that info to find out more information.

But if there is no sign, then I resort to the internet.

I love the internet because I can search online, though most times it is hit or miss. Nowadays you can search through photos online too. I like this method as I can compare my photo with the ones online.

Anyway, the other day I had taken a picture of this tree in Nakanoshima.

The flowers were so fragrant that every time the wind blew you would get a whiff of the citrusy aroma.

I looked online to see if I could find the Japanese or English name for the tree, but after many hours, came up empty.

Then by some miracle, I looked up the name of the bridge which I took the photo at...bingo!

The bridge is called Sendan no Ki-bashi (Chinaberry tree bridge). The scientific name for the tree is Melia Azedarach.

Who would've thought they would name the bridge after the tree?

The bridge was originally made of wood but washed away in a flood (in 1885) then re-built (I think several times).

I think it was in 1937 that they decided to change the wood bridge to metal.

Though the bridge is short in length, at one end of the bridge there are several of the original posts used to mark the bridge during different eras and are located under a very large Chinaberry tree.

There is also a relief of the Chinaberry tree on one of the original posts, this design is also worked into the railings along the sides of the bridge.

At the other end of the bridge is another Chinaberry tree, but this one is shorter so the flowers were just the right height for me to get a close-up of them.

I'm glad I was able to find out more about this tree and bridge.

Hope you have a great week!